A Viking and her Cat
by Jhonie
Summary: This is the old and outdated version. I'm working on a proper reboot by the name of Twisting Threads, so check that out instead, would you kindly?
1. Prologue: A white, fateful day

**My first fanfiction, now rewritten, better than ever! I hope you appreciate this, because it sure took some time…**

**Disclaimer: Did you know a disclaimer is completely unnecessary? You know, FF dot net has already got that covered, so why bother?**

* * *

**Embla**

**First log entry**

**Location: Stockholm, Sweden**

**Earth**

* * *

In hindsight, I really should have seen this coming. Well, perhaps not, but at least something similar. I'd lived my whole life surrounded by stories. I knew how they went.

And yet, this one caught me off-guard.

I'll tell you from the beginning. It all started one day, like so many other while I was on the bus on my way home after yet one more unsuccessful day at the employment agency. My brother had tried to tell me that it was fine, that I could take my time and get a proper education. That he got enough for the both of us, but I hated being useless.

And, well, professional poker wasn't really my thing, anyway. Sure, a game of cards every now and then was all good fun, but to make your hobby into work is rarely a good thing.

Well, at least the Gods had been leaving us alone lately. Perhaps they were grumpy after my latest floor sweeping last week at the Hub. Always the pack of sore losers, they were. It was a good thing they owed me one too many to try anything, or things might have gone real weird a lot earlier.

Not that my life had been anywhere near normal in the first place.

I had always been surrounded by stories. When you grow up being able to _see_ things, this has a tendency to happen. But I had always considered myself a mere observer of stories. Nothing more, nothing less.

It all started a day like any other.

Just like all stories begin.

The bus had just passed the halfway mark when it stopped. My mind was rather absent, as paying attention to things when on a bus is usually naught but dull. Only, this time, it didn't stop, well, stopping. It simply remained stationary.

The driver's voice thundered in the speakers. Apparently, there had been an accident up ahead. Something about a milk truck having crashed into a tree. With a sigh, I walked out, wrapping my muffler closer around my face as I trekked away. It was snowing heavily. The sky was dark, despite the clock only saying 4:PM. Typical January. I hated winter.

The small country road leading to my house was paved through a rather thick forest. Funny, how you can love a place one day, yet loathe it the next. Perhaps it was the winter. Yes, definitely the winter. All of the cold and dark was getting to me. Stupid lack of sun. Stupid snow. Stupid everything.

Yep, the dark days were definitely getting to me.

Or maybe it was the lack of color. With all of the leaves gone, the lack of light, and all of the snow covering the land like a thick blanket, everything looked like it was taken from an old picture. You know, before there were color photos. All I could see was white, white, grey, white, grey, grey, black, red, white- wait, red?

Yes, red. Small, yet intense specks of red.

Blood.

I walked up closer to inspect. Yes, definitely blood. And animal tracks from a small, quadruped animal. Fox? No, not likely. The paw marks were wider than those of a fox. Cat, then?

Cat!

Shit.

Filled with a crawling sense of dread, I started to run along the tracks. I would have silently prayed, had I believed in the gods, that my fears were wrong.

Should have known the petty bastards wouldn't ever listen to my nonexistent prayers. Petty, selfish, egoistic _fucktards._

Yeah. Cussing them out always felt good. Not that it helped.

It didn't take long before I spotted a small animal curled up right behind a Hazel tree. Indeed, it was Yuffie, better known as Cat. She was a peculiar little black-furred Ragdoll hybrid that we had taken care of for quite a few years.  
The blood wasn't too abundant, and the wound had almost stopped bleeding.

She was still breathing.

What worried me though, was her body temperature. She was cold as ice! Carefully, I cradled her in my arms and once again, I ran, albeit faster this time. It was a good thing that I wasn't that far from our house, especially since my stamina stat wasn't exactly the highest. Still, the distance was enough to leave a tangy taste of iron in my mouth as I reached the door and fumbled for my keys.

Once inside I didn't even bother to take off my shoes. Instead, I went straight to the couch and gently set her down and wrapped my body-heated jacket around her cold little body. I then went to the bathroom and took out a clean piece of cloth and a bottle of disinfectant, as well as a bowl of hot water.

Washing her wound wasn't exactly the most tiring or time consuming task ever done, but for every second that passed by, I could feel my energy draining away like someone pulled the plug out. The adrenalin kick that had kept me running all the way home was now gone, so there was really no surprise that my whole body was crying out in pain.

Not a minute had passed after I finished washing Cat's wound before my head hit the couch as blackness overtook me.

I still hadn't taken off my shoes.

* * *

**That's the Intro. It's a lot shorter than 1.0, but it is for a reason. It's a prologue. Things will go about a bit differently in 2.0, but hopefully, it's only for the better. Prepare to have your minds further blown.**

**Yes, I know this update will cause quite a bit of inconsistency between some chapters for a while, but bear with me, kay? It'll be worth it. Hopefully.**

**This time, I'll have the SBS page functioning from the start, too.**** So hammer away. Link be on my profile page.**


	2. What's with the damn celshading?

**Chapter one, V 2.0. Prepare yourselves!**

**Note to new readers: THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT A CHARACTER IS YELLING****. ACTUALLY, HE, OR USUALLY SHE, IS QUITE FRANKLY USING A QUITE CIVIL LEVEL OF VOICE. S/HE JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE USING _THE VOICE. _THAT IS, THE PECULIAR EDGE OR FEELING THAT DEATH'S VOICE IS INHERENTLY EXUDING. FOR REASONS THAT WILL BE REVEALED IN A FEW CHAPTERS AHEAD, EMBLA IS ABLE TO UTILIZE THIS AND USES IT MAINLY FOR INTIMIDATION PURPOSES, OR WHEN SHE'S ANGRY. WHEN SHE IS PISSED SHE DOES NOT YELL. SHE SPEAKS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.****  
**

* * *

**Embla**

**Second Log entry**

**Location: A forest in the middle of nowhere**

* * *

For some reason, I woke up in a forest. My first thought was 'Hey, when did it become summer?' followed by 'And why is my hair covering my face?' Come to think of it, why was I in a forest anyway?

As I sat up, I reached for my ever-present black bandana with pretty, pretty skulls. It was supposed to keep my hair out of my face, but noo… Yep, it was still there. With a sigh, I untied it and retied it as a headband, which wielded little results. A few minutes passed as I tried to get my hair to keep out of my face, all the while I tried to remember if I had done something to piss off the God of Bad Hair Days lately. As far as I could remember, I hadn't even met the guy. Yet.

After several more minutes of struggling I finally got the headband to keep my hair away from at least one eye and I could swear I heard a low giggle. Still agitated from the struggle against my own hairdo, I whipped my head around in search for the culprit.  
"What's so damn funny?"

"You should have seen your face," a calm voice said. It had a strange, raspy and soft yet somewhat high-pitched quality to it that didn't sound quite human.  
"It was quite amusing."

It was only then that I found the speaker sitting on a tree branch. It was Cat. Now, I know that normally one would be quite surprised at the fact that a cat just spoke, but I had seen stranger things in my life. Such as the seemingly cel shaded environment I was currently standing in. Included in, even. This could mean one of two things. I was either dreaming or I was for some strange reason in a different plane of reality that was a lot more colorful than my own.

My common sense told me that I should bet on the former. However, my gamer instincts strictly told me otherwise. So far, those instincts have failed me a total of zero times. Solution? Go with the flow. I'd find out sooner or later.

One way or the other.

I was literally knocked out of my grumbling musings by a flying pair of headphones impacting with my forehead.  
"Put these on," my talking feline friend not as much asked as ordered. "You might find yourself needing them."

With a shrug I did, though I was skeptical regarding what they were good for.  
"So," I asked. "Where are we?"

"Oh, you'll see."

"Aren't you the helpful one?"

She just chuckled in a manner that sounded a lot more like a series of quick sneezes than anything as she hopped down from her lofty perch and onto my head as I started walking in a random direction. Or not exactly random, to be frank. There was a dirt road just past a couple of trees so I just mentally flipped a coin and walked along it.

Road meant houses and houses meant food. And I was hungry. Very hungry. Hell, I hadn't eaten anything since… some time.

* * *

**Roronoa Zoro**

**Third log entry**

**A nearby town, by the docks.**

* * *

Alright, I'm not entirely sure about this whole 'novel-log' concept -

[Get on with it!]

Fine, whatever. Troublesome Chalk-mop. So anyway, Ruffy and I were sailing about. Or drifting, rather. There's no point in denying it; neither of us could navigate one damn bit. It was just my luck to get an utter glutton for a captain, too. Needless to say, we were also out of food. Had been, for three days. Perhaps four. Difficult to keep track of time.

In any case, we were finally approaching an island. With a port, no less. I have to admit; even I was a bit enthusiastic about food at this point. It was a quaint little town, but the food was good. Unfortunately, we, err… had forgot to bring any money. Ok, fine, we were fresh outta cash and realized it a tad bit late. As in, neither of us noticed until I had a lesser pile of plates stacked by my spot.

And Ruffy had a growing mountain. How he can keep eating that much and still be so damn scrawny remains a mystery to me.

All in all, it didn't look that good for us financially, and we didn't exactly want to stir up trouble first thing as we arrived. We still needed provisions, after all.

Well_, someone's_ got to think ahead more than five minutes.

Really, the only choices we had were either to do a sneaky _(however that would be possible)_ eat-n'-run, or, regrettably, lend money from someone.

Me, being a, as Chalk-mop over there so nicely puts it, "foolishly honorable bastard", which I'm gonna get back at her for later, by the way, I wasn't all too overly enthusiastic about the concept of eat-n'-running. So I turn my head, and spot what likely was the most unruly mop of hair I'd seen, and that's saying something. Chalk-white, too. Hell, I first though it was a really ugly hat or some-

[…I'mma _maim_ you for that.]

[Em, stop reading over my shoulder, _please!_]

[My hair is an _ugly, unruly **FUR-HAT**__**? **_**I AM NOT PLEASED****.**]

[Look, I _meant_ that if it _was_ a hat, it would be ugly as hell. It looks _fine_ as hair. Now would you _please_ let me write this damn thing?]

[*snort* Fine. Maiming will wait. For now…]

*sigh* Alright, now that the near-death threats are over with, let's get back to where I was.

Basically, it was a young woman, about my age. A really,_ really_ pale one, at that. Coulda passed off as a ghost if it wasn't midday. I tapped her on the shoulder, wonderin' if she would be so kind as to lend us a few beli. Or a thousand. We'd be needing it.

Unfortunately, the gal was as broke as us. Can't even remember what her excuse was, really. To add to our most damn marvelous luck, the waiter had overheard us and, well, sent the guard on us. So we did the (relatively) sensible thing, and took to the rooftops.

The gal hopped along. And the cat that was with her. Funny, didn't notice it 'til then.

I must admit, I was kinda impressed with how this complete stranger could keep up with us, just like that. I mean, we weren't exactly going slowly. Didn't seem too winded, either, when we stopped after a while.

That was the first moment when I got a proper look at the woman. She was tall. A bit taller than myself, even. Sturdy build. Not too muscular. Flat as a board. Looked quite foreign.

Her clothes added to that factor. Mostly black. A striped tank, baggy pants. A vest that looked like it had once been a jacket of some sort, but had its sleeves ripped off.

She had a necklace 'round her neck. Looked like some kind of hammer, tied on a leather string. There was a quite odd spade mark on her cheek, right below her eye. The one I could see, at least. I must admit, those eyes were probably the greenest I had ever seen. Looked kinda creepy.

What really caught my eye, though, was the nodachi casually slung over her shoulder. It was one of quite good quality, with a dark green handle and a matching brown leather sheath, which was adorned with a modest vine pattern in green. The crossguard was a simple one. Elliptical, with the holes vaguely shaping a swirl.

It all added up to a rather odd-looking woman who seemed out of place, somehow. Who was also chuckling.

"Heh. Heheh. We lost them?"

"Yup!"

"For now, that is."

She gave us an odd grin and held out a hand in a friendly gesture. "Name's Embla. Fuzzball over there's Cat. Nice to meet you."

Ruffy stepped forward with his usual friendly grin, gladly taking care of introductions for us.  
"I'm Monkey D Ruffy. This is Zoro. Embla, huh? That's a cool name!"

"Sorry for dragging you into that back there."

The newly introduced Embla simply waved it off. "Bah, no worries. I would have gotten into the shit sooner or later anyway. That tends to happen when you're broke."

"Say…" I began. I just had to ask. "Does your cat have a name, or is it just 'Cat'?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. _Do _you?"

A suspiciously low-positioned voice replied. "Cats don't have names." It was oddly, well, _odd_, almost alien, but definitely female.

"They don't?"

There was an odd sneezing sound that I _think_ was a snort. "Cats don't _need_ names. We know perfectly well who we are without someone having to inform us of it."

"Wait." It was about now that it finally clicked. The cat had talked. That was definitely _not_ normal.  
"Cat can _talk?_"

"Awesome!"

"No, I can't. Cats can't talk; that's common sense."

Not even Ruffy fell for that. Embla seemed more like she had expected it. It was the facepalm.  
"Cat, you know common sense doesn't work here."

Now, I'm not exactly an expert on the body language o' cats, but I'm pretty sure that a twitching tail means annoyance. If so, the odd cat was definitely annoyed.  
"It was worth the try."

We barely noticed that we had started walking. No particular direction. Neither of us knew the city and it wasn't like we had any destination, so.

Ruffy and Cat was happily chatting along. No big surprise there, really. The guy was a big child sometimes. Most of the time. Nearly all the time. Didn't really catch what they were talking about. Don't think it was important.

Instead, I was talking along with Embla, and she proved to be quite decent company.

"Oi," I said, pointing at her sword. "You any good?"

She chuckled, scratching the back of her head as if embarrassed. "I like to think of myself as decent."

"You're a swordswoman, then?"

"Ah, no. Not swordswoman, no. I wouldn't say."

Couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "That's a lot o' 'no'-s"

"Well, I'm not. 'M better with a scythe, anyway."

Now that did catch my interest. "Scythe?"

Her eyes lit up in a way that almost looked awkward, in a rusty kind of way. "One could say I've dabbled in a lot of schools. Cracked the code some time ago."

"Can't honestly say I knew there was a code to weapons."

"Oh, there is a code to everything. The trick's just to find it."

It went on like that for a while. Us four walking down the streets, chatting about. Until, naturally, the damn guard found us, and we were running again. Just brilliant.


	3. Setting out

**This chapter got really short, as it would have gotten unreasonably long if I'd gone on writing to the next part where a new chapter suitingly would begin. In any case, on with the show...**

**And if you wonder why I am able to publish so quickly it is because I have already published chapter 1-5 on a different site. And well, that site will be the first to get updates, just so that you know. And I do not own One Piece.**

I knew that I couldn't trust these guys' sense of direction so I did my best to keep track on the general direction of the village. The island wasn't too big, so that task wasn't all too difficult. Besides, my sense of direction was actually rather good.

Soon, we found the camp, although a wooden fortress would be a more fitting name to call it. Also, it was pretty heavily guarded.

Cat asked, with a smirk "So, which upgrade will we pick, Furious charge or Infiltrate?"

"No Warhammer references. It'll just get confusing," I countered, but with hints of both annoyance and amusement in my voice.

"Infiltration should bring about the least trouble," Zoro pointed out. At first I almost thought that he actually got the reference, but then the names of the upgrades were pretty obvious.

"Wait, where is Ruffy?" Cat suddenly asked.

He was gone.

"That _**idiot!**_" we all yelled out with fanged expressions. He'd already proceeded by charging the fortress, so we had no choice but to follow.

"Dawn of war, eh?" Cat added, once again clinging to my head.

"The mission is capture and control!" I laughed.

Zoro looked at us strangely as he didn't get the reference.

I drew my sword. Zoro had already drawn his, all three of them. We cut our way through the wooden wall. I actually felt kind of sorry for the poor bandits. I mean, they hadn't done anything, except for a few of them that had tried to mug me and pissed me off. Well, I only hoped that this would go smoothly.

The scene that met us was that of Ruffy causing havoc in the fort. Some shouted "Reinforcements!" as they spotted us. Dawn of war indeed. Then I saw some familiar faces. It was the bandits that had tried to mug me in the forest earlier. I smirked evilly as I rushed towards them. They spotted me and panicked, but I was too fast and quickly caught up with them.

"Howdy," I greeted ominously. They froze in their tracks, terrified. Smiling ominously I asked them "The storage, where?"

They indicated towards a large building without windows at the far end of the camp, shaking like maracas. Hehe, amusing. "Thank you." I said in English, probably better English than they'd ever hear, and knocked them out cold, with the back of my blade. I felt nice today. Then I ran to the supposed storage and kicked open the door. They hadn't lied.

"Guys, found the storage!" I exclaimed cheerfully, still standing on one leg. They quickly finished off the bandits that they were currently fighting and headed towards where I was. When they arrived I was already stuffing a sack full of various stuff, not only food.

"Way to go, Embla. That was quick!" Zoro said.

"Oooh!" Ruffy exclaimed as he saw the massive amount of food stocks stored there. We quickly stuffed one sack each, except Cat who couldn't carry one.

When we went out of the storage the whole camp had lined up. We were surrounded, and behind us was the wall.

"Che, gutsy aren't they?" Zoro commented, unsheathing his swords.

"Some people just don't know when to quit." I added, sighing, with a smirk on my lips.

"At least we're close to the walls." Cat commented, thinking ahead.

"Run!" Ruffy exclaimed. We obeyed immediately. I was rather amazed that I could actually run, carrying such a massive sack, I wasn't really known as a strong person, I wouldn't say. We smashed through the wall and somehow outran them. Even despite the luggage, we managed to lose them quickly, but now we had a bigger problem to face; to find our way back to the village. In the midst of all action I had lost track of the directions. We were all pointing in different directions and not even Cat had been able to keep track of the directions in that chaos.

"Ah, what the hell," I sighed, still in a bit of a high. "It's a bloody island. Walk straight in any direction and we'll get to the beach eventually. Then we just follow the coastline and we'll get to the village sooner or later."

"Actually, I just thought of a faster way." Cat said, smirking.

"Huh?" we all asked, wanting her to tell us.

"Zoro, which way?" Cat asked. Wait, what?

Zoro confidently pointed in one direction. "That way."

"Right, then it's this way." Cat said and started walking in the direct opposite direction. Both Ruffy and I laughed out loud and Zoro looked both pissed off and slightly embarrassed. I could almost see the thundercloud. It was all really amusing.

As we walked along the by Cat (and Zoro, sort of) indicated path I was thinking about my situation. I hadn't had this fun in ages! Now I just had to join the crew, which I probably already had, knowing Ruffy. But a few things bugged me at the back of my mind. Sooner or later I'd have to tell them about the fact that I wasn't from this world. And about… No. I mentally shook my head. I was not going to let thoughts about that ruin my high.

"Well, here we are." Cat stated, breaking my train of thought.

Ruffy broke out in a violent fit of laughter in which I soon joined. We had gotten straight to the village. OK, I've got to remember that method, it was a win.

"Let's just get to the boat." Zoro grunted, his thundercloud still clearly visible. He was pissed off, all right.

We went down to the harbor and unloaded our sacks. I sat down on the ground and sighed. I was pretty beat.

"So, what are you two going to do now?" Zoro asked us.

Cat was cleaning her fur so I answered. "Well, I dunno. No real plan. Wander, I guess." Why did I say that? I wanted to go with them. I still don't know why I said that, but nevertheless, that didn't matter. Ruffy had, to my great relief, already decided.

"Wanna come with us?" Ruffy asked, smiling. "We make a good team." Well, it wouldn't matter if I said no anyway.

Cat nodded. "It's a pity to break up a good hunting team."

I recognized that line. She really had read most of the books I owned, if not all. I smiled. "Fine, but then you'll have to put up with my music, my games and Cat's quick remarks. I'm warning you."

"No problem," Ruffy laughed.

"You sure? You'll go nuts in days on this boat," Zoro warned me with an amused smirk.

I simply snickered back. "Too late. Much too late."

He reached out his hand towards me and I grabbed it with a smile and jumped in, Cat following soon behind. I was going to enjoy this!

We set out.

As we were opening a barrel of sake for a welcome party, Zoro asked "So, Embla, what's your specialty?"

I took a cup and answered. "Weapons. There ain't a close combat weapon that I can't use. And Cat's an amazing inventor. Oh, and I also hold the town record for bun eating in my hometown." That last part was actually true, believe it or not. Well, I like buns, what of it?

"Well then," Ruffy said. "To our new nakama, Embla the weapons expert and Cat the inventor," we all joined in on the "_**Kanpai!**_"

And thus, my adventurous life as the third member of the Straw hat crew had begun.

**Edit 25/01 2010: Man, I update really quickly today. I hope that this is satisfying. More so than before, at the very least. **

**J out!**


	4. Big bird

**Disclaimer: Yup. I still do not own One Piece.**** S'not as if I ever will. I neither own Warhammer or Discworld.**

I was pretty amazed what party we had, even though we were only three people and a cat. I guess all becomes a party when the Straw Hats are involved, and now I was a part of them. If this is a dream, don't wake me up please! There was lots of drinking, some singing and eating. Cookies in my case. And anything with enough sugar content, really. I got enough of a sugar high to last me all night so I took the guard shift, which I was currently on. Cat was still awake and was tinkering with some metal scraps I'd brought with me from the fort we raided. I brought a few other stuff too that I'd have use for later.

Then I thought of something. "Cat?"

"What is it?" she answered, not turning from her scraps.

"That upgrade you did to my iPod... it made me be able to speak Japanese, right" It was one of the many things that had been bugging my mind a while.

"Yep," she answered, still not turning, in a tone that suggested that, in her world, she was stating the obvious. "Whenever you hear a language spoken, that upgrade will make you automatically learn it in its entirety."

"Now, that's handy!" I said, amazed, and looked at my iPod, eyebrows high. "You're really something!"

"I know," she said, smiling contently. "I already knew Japanese, so I didn't need my own," she went on, but I had stopped listening. She noticed this and went on tinkering. One other thing had been on my mind for a while. Aikido is a defensive art, mainly consisting of different throws. It would do me little good in the battles to come. But I guess that my experience with the art would do some use at least. I'd mostly had to rely on what I learned at _that place_. Really, I liked that place slightly, but it had an eerie atmosphere. _Him _being my sensei in weapons didn't really help either. I sighed and supposed that I'd know what to do when the time came. Instead of pursuing this matter further I picked up a shamisen I'd stole- ...err found in the bandit camp and started to play a bit. I didn't know too many songs, but I knew a few and they were probably pretty exotic to this world. I sat down and played and sang 'Still Alive' to clear my head, but quietly, not to wake up the guys. It really worked. Thank you, Jonathan Coulton!

"What are you making?" I asked Cat with a semi-interested tone. I didn't really expect an answer though, I just wanted to pass some time. Guard duty was so boring.

"A surprise. It's going to take a while without my equipment though. I guess that it'll be finished about at the time that we enter the Grand Line." Cat said, never turning her head away from her work. Always so focused. I guess Brother had a point, she was pretty boring sometimes.

When we enter the Grand Line, huh? A long time indeed. Nothing interesting happened that night and I went on playing the few songs I knew.

A few days later we had run out of food, and been without any for a day already. Our fishing luck had been zero and we were all lying flat on the floor, just being very, very hungry. I knew this scene. Saw the bird.

"Wow, now that's a big birdie," I said and pointed towards the bird flying above us.

"It's big, all right" Zoro agreed.

There was a short pause.

"Let's eat that bird!" Ruffy suggested with glowing enthusiasm.

"How?" Zoro asked, skeptical.

"Gomu Gomu no..."

"Oh."

"Hey, wait. I don't think that's such a-" Cat tried, but she was cut off by Ruffy's

"ROCKET!" Ruffy launched himself towards the bird, intending to catch it. All the while grinning broadly, thinking that, for the first time in days, we'd get to actually eat.

"I see." Zoro said absentmindedly, watching him fly.

"Aaargh!" Ruffy screamed as the bird caught his head with its beak.

"…good idea," Cat finished, sighing heavily while shaking her head.

"You IDIOT!" Zoro yelled out and started to row as fast as he could. I just laughed hard. It was just as fun every time I saw the scene, and seeing it for real like this was even better. Everything was better when you saw it first-hand.

Buggy's henchmen soon came into sight and they yelled towards us, telling us to stop the boat. They looked pretty pitiful as they laid there in the sea, trying to keep afloat. Zoro replied that they had to jump on. Somehow, they got on and threatened us, not knowing who we were. Cat ignored them. She was still tinkering on the little metal cylinder she'd been working on.

"Don't mind them, just go on rowing." I told Zoro with a sigh and gave each one of the three goons some nice bumps, bruises and cracked teeth. Then I noticed, to my annoyance, that we were straying from the path.

"Keep heading towards the bird! The bird! Where do you think you're rowing?" I yelled at him, irritated.

A vein popped up. "Why don't you row yourself then?" Zoro yelled back angrily.

"Nah, let the freeloaders row." Cat suggested with a snicker.

I threw the oars in the hands of the goons and threateningly told them to follow the bird. Then I sat down and relaxed. Cat had taken a break from her project and appeared to be sleeping. Cats could sure be carefree...

Zoro asked them how they got like that in the first place and they told him about Nami. As I already knew the story I only listened halfheartedly. Zoro however, seemed quite impressed by this girl who appeared to be able to control the weather. Alas, she could not, I knew. Not yet. But she was really amazing at reading the weather and the sea though. A brilliant future navigator.

Soon the village came into sight. We made anchor at the docks. I commented upon how empty the town was. The goons informed us that their clan had attacked the village.

"Annoying morganéers..." I mumbled, annoyed. That kind of pirates shouldn't even have the right to call themselves pirates, they were just petty sea bandits. It's that kind of folks who gives pirates a bad name.

"I'd like to talk to that Buggy. Maybe he knows something about Ruffy." Zoro said thoughtfully. I nodded in agreement.

We left the goons alone and started to search the village. I knew where they were, sort of, but I didn't know the layout of the village.

Suddenly a whole row of houses blew up beside us as if they were penetrated by a cannonball.

"What the?" Zoro exclaimed.

I whistled. "Big boom." So what? I like explosions.

"That's one of Buggy's. Got to be." Cat observed, her often being the 'Third thoughts' of the crew.

We all turned towards where the cannonball had come from and half-ran towards the tavern.

"A cage?" I quietly commented when we got on the rooftop. All attention was directed towards Nami and Ruffy so no one noticed us. Even so, we rushed. Nami was trying to put out the fuse and Ruffy was attempting to chew his way through the iron bars. He'd had some success. Damn, that guy's got strong teeth. A number of goons were charging Nami, from two sides. No words were needed. We took one side each. Stopped them with our swords still in their sheaths.

"So many against one person? And a woman, no less." Zoro said, voice dripping with disapproval.

"Ganging up on her from multiple sides too. No pride at all, has you?" I added, face serious for once, the right eye shining through my bangs probably adding to intimidation score. I was getting good at this.

"Zoro! Embla! Cat!" Ruffy happily exclaimed.

"The hell you doing, Ruffy?" Zoro asked, slightly annoyed. "You get caught by a bird and when we find you, you're locked in a cage. _Stupid_!"

I chuckled. Cat was being stealthy as she sneaked towards Ruffy's cage, intending to tear off the ropes. Buggy's crew started to mumble uneasily as they noted that Ruffy had said 'Zoro'. I kinda looked forward to the days when my name would strike as much awe in people as his, but I kinda figured that that would never happen. I'd just have to settle for third place, then.

"The pirate hunter Zoro, huh?" Buggy said and stepped forward. "Have you come for my head?"

"I don't want your ugly head. I quit as bounty hunter," Zoro answered plainly, but his voice carried a tone of annoyance.

"Oh? But I want yours. Killing you will make me even more famous," Buggy went on, unsheathing his knives. Ah, he seriously though he could beat Zoro. Annoying bastard.

"Don't. You'll die." Zoro warned him.

"Embla!" Ruffy called. "Get me outta the cage!"

"Sorry, I can't cut metal. Yet." I added the last part mostly to myself. " An' Cat's already clawing through your ropes." I added. As I told him he noticed her, and I have to admit that she had stealth skills. Cats are awesome. She was about halfway through. I turned my attention back to Zoro and Buggy. Zoro had just sheathed his swords after cutting the clown to pieces. Then I remembered something crucial, I hadn't warned Zoro about Buggy's ability.

"Zoro, watch out! He's a..!" I tried to warn him, but Buggy didn't let me. I was interrupted by a knife sticking through my shoulder. One of Buggy's. It had been partly stopped by the shoulder blade. It hurt like hell. I wasn't used to real battle in the least, so I had never been hurt this bad before. By sheer willpower I forced back a cry of pain and smiled it off. I had often found smiling a good way to hold the pain at bay.

"What the? ..!" Zoro exclaimed, but he was stabbed in the side before he could figure out what had happened. I had failed to warn him. I pulled the dagger out of my shoulder while buggy reassembled, laughing. Zoro wondered just what he was. I told him. He clenched his teeth.

"A splitting human? He some kind of monster?" Ruffy said, mostly to himself.

"Says the rubberman!" Cat shot in.

There was a short pause where Buggy laughed evilly.

"Attacking from behind is ugly, damn tomato nose!" Ruffy yelled. I chuckled, but quickly stopped as I found it a bad idea. Pain. I could almost see the whole Buggy crew think _'Shit, that guy's so boned!'_

"What did you say you flashy bastard? Die hard!" Buggy yelled out in fury. That was a sore toe. He shot out his hand, intending to stab Ruffy in the head, but Ruffy caught the dagger with his teeth, biting it in two. "I'm going to kick your ass," he said, smiling, the knife still in his mouth.

"How frikkin' strong a bite has he?" I commented. The knife was made of steel, dammit!

"Zoro, Embla, run!" Ruffy exclaimed. We got surprised at first and we were about to protest when we saw the confident look in his eyes. It wasn't a suggestion. As one, I and Zoro went to the cannon and tilted it, turning it towards Buggy and CO. I could only use my right arm, but it went well anyways.

"Light the fuse," Zoro told Nami with a commanding tone.

"Eeh? Ok." A bit bewildered at first, she still did it without hesitation. Zoro tended to have that effect on people.

_Boom__._ Hehe, boom. I like boom.

Zoro went on to lifting the cage. Show-off. Cat had already chewed through the ropes and sat on the cage. I sighed and took a third of the weight.

"Oi, your arm is injured. I can take it myself," Zoro protested. Man, he should accept people's help more.

"Shut up. You got stabbed in the stomach. You're just as badly injured as I am. If we share the burden we'll be able to move faster," I argued, and I saw in his eyes that he knew I was right.

"You two, don't. You're wounded," Ruffy protested, voice filled with concern, but one could hint that he didn't expect us to listen, thus the lack of command in his voice.

"You shut up, I do what I want," Zoro countered with a grunt.

"I didn't come here to play around," I added, determined to get stronger.

"Monsters, all of you," Nami said, amazed and a bit repelled.

Under the cover of the dust cloud after the cannon we managed to get away and take temporary shelter at a nearby roof.


	5. Doggy

**Disclaimer: Still don't own One Piece, obviously.**

We had to move, quickly or they'd find us. With me and Zoro injured and Ruffy locked in a cage we wouldn't be able to fight them.

It was all clear and we dragged the cage down the street. We'd run out of adrenaline and couldn't carry it anymore, so we stopped in front of a pet food store. Both I and Zoro pretty much collapsed on the spot from losing too much blood. Once again I was amazed by how this world affected me. Then we saw the dog, Shushu or whatever. Cat took cover behind me as she'd never been good with dogs. I paid her no attention as I sat up, leaning against Ruffy's cage.

"A dog?" Zoro observed, leaning against a pillar.

"A dog," I confirmed.

"It's not moving," Ruffy pointed out.

"It's not?" Cat asked, carefully peeking up from behind me. She rarely showed this vulnerable side, but when she did, she looked utterly pathetic, really.

"It's not moving if don't want to to," Zoro said, intending to drop the subject, but he failed.

"Is it dead?" Ruffy asked, poking its forehead. It replied by biting his face.

"Aargh, damn dog! Leggo!" Ruffy screamed as he fought to free himself from the dog's bite. The fight rattled the cage, and pretty damn hard, too. It hurt like hell to say the least..

"!" I collapsed face forward.

"Do you even know what situation we're in here?" Zoro yelled out angrily, his teeth currently fanged, but he collapsed too.

Soon we all laid flat on the ground.

"Damn dog..."

"Shit, blood loss."

"..." My shoulder hurt so bad because of the rattling that I couldn't even speak.

"If I could understand what you guys are doing. Lie around like this and you'll be found immediately," Nami sighed at us as she stepped forward.

"Hiya navigator," all three, err… I mean four of us said at once.

"You sure are persistent! I never agreed to that!" Nami yelled back at us angrily.

"Give it up Nami," I tried. "If he's decided upon something, there is no way of changing his mind."

She sighed, not knowing us well enough to take me seriously. "Well, here you go. I guess I should thank you for saving me back there," she said and threw the key to the cage on the ground before us.

"Ooh! The key! Thank you..!" Ruffy didn't have time to continue before the dog ate the key. Zoro and Nami jaw dropped, aghast. Cat facepalmed. I just laughed out loud... Ruffy got pissed off and started to strangle the dog, which bended the bars in a strange way that suggested that he ought to be able to bend those bars aside if he wanted to, no problem.

"Spit it up! Damn it, that ain't food! Spit it up I said!" His fight with the dog made me glad that I was lying on the ground right now instead of leaning at the cage like before. Note to self: never lean yourself against a cage that contains Ruffy if you're wounded. It can get damn painful.

"Stop torturing Shushu!" someone yelled. It was an old man. Right, the mayor, I think his name was Pudel* or whatever. Hehee… he sure looked like one at least.

"Well, the dog kinda ate the key to this cage and..." I tried but I was ignored.

"Who are you ossan?" Ruffy asked, no longer conducting mortal combat with Shushu.

"My name is Budel, and I'm the mayor of this town." Right. Budel. Sorry. Buut I liked Pudel better, so I think I'll stick to that, feheh. Then he noticed me and Zoro's wounds.

"Those are some serious injuries! Were you attacked by Buggy?" he asked, a tad bit shocked.

"Sort of," I replied, trying to shrug, which was pretty tricky with a penetrated shoulder blade, I tell you. He insisted that we'd treat it properly, but Zoro said that bandages and some sleep was enough. I said the same. We got to sleep in his house. I was pretty dizzy. I did mention that I have a natural low blood pressure before, yeah? Well, I do, and if one has that, one is even more sensitive against open wounds, or at least, the dizziness that they cause. And, I tell you, that I was not used to mortal combat. _At all._ Well, not this side of me in the very least. Except from my sparring sessions with sensei I had not been involved in any combat, which resulted in low experience in the injury section. Well, enough of this.

We were woken up later by a big boom and the first thing we experienced as we woke up was getting a house in our heads. Not the most comfortable of wake-up alarms.

"Owowow... how do you guys wake people up, really?" Zoro complained as he sat up from the rubble.

I rose up like a zombie as I'd always been slow in the mornings. "Well, but you can't deny that it was effective," I commented with a mumble, rubbing my eyes.

"Ah, good. You survived," Ruffy said, in a tone that suggested that he wasn't really worried about us in the first place. Well, we were sturdy. Or at least Zoro were; I wasn't too sure. Yet.

"Just what are you people _made_ of?" Nami asked, rather aghast.

I smirked and started to recite the list that I'd learned by heart, just for the fun of it. "Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc, Selenium, Molybdenum, Fluorine…" I took a short pause to catch my breath. "…Chlorine, Iodine, Manganese, Cobalt, Iron, Lithium, Strontium, Aluminum, Silicon, Lead, Vanadium, Arsenic and Bromine. You know, the usual stuff." The others gave me an odd look, as I'd actually answered that question, which was really a rhetorical question, and that I did so with a straight face too. Maybe even more so because I actually knew exactly what the human body consisted of. But it wasn't as if I didn't understand her. To be honest, I was pretty surprised that I could take that myself, but I guess that I had to get used to it. Worse even. Much worse.

But my train of thought just hit a cow when Pudel started to yell in anger.

"That's _it!_ Buggy, I won't let you destroy another town!" he exclaimed furiously and started to run towards Buggy's HQ. Nami tried to stop him.

"Stop! Don't! It's suicide!" she tried, but alas, in vain.

"I _know_ it's suicide!" he replied and rushed away anyways.

"My, my, a lot's going on here," Zoro commented with an amused smirk.

"Indeed!" Ruffy said and chuckled. I joined in.

"This is no laughing matter!" Nami countered with an annoyed expression.

"Don't worry, I like that ossan. I won't let him die," Ruffy reasoned calmly, with a somewhat serious look in his eyes.

"And what can you do about all this, then?" Nami countered in disbelief.

"Our goal is the Grand Line, thus we need to reclaim the map," Ruffy told her. "Become our nakama, Nami. You want the map too, right?" He held out his hand.

"I'm not going to become a pirate," Nami answered, but she still gave him a 'five'. "This is an alliance, for our common goals."

I smiled, knowing what would occur later on.

We all started to walk towards Buggy's HQ. Nami started to protest against me and Zoro going.

"Are you two really coming along? What about your injuries?" she complained.

"They healed," we both countered.

"_As if!_" she yelled back, annoyance clear in her voice.

"This kind of wound hurts my name more than it hurts my stomach," Zoro said and put on his black bandana. "Let's go."

"That's right, we're going!" Ruffy exclaimed and cracked his knuckles.

"You're crazy, the lot of you." Nami said, but neither of us really listened.

I was pretty surprised that my shoulder didn't hurt much. I guess that recovery time is lessened here. Then I noticed something. "Oi, we're a head short. Where's Cat?"

"Oh, that black furball? She went back to the boat." Nami told me. "She can't fight, so she wanted to stay out of this."

She'd rather tinker with her weird inventions, then. I nodded. "Understandable."

Soon the tavern came into sight. Pudel was getting strangled by Buggy from afar, but Ruffy quickly stepped in and pulled off Buggy's hand.

"As I promised, I've come to kick your ass!" Ruffy challenged, with a smile.

Now the fun began.

***Swedish readers will get this joke, but for ****those who aren't, Pudel means Poodle.**

**Now opening SBS! I will also give some in depth detail about Embla's fighting-style at the end of the next chapter.**


	6. Sweet dreams

**Man, I'm bad at writing fighting scenes. Hope it isn't all too terrible.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own One Piece, and I won't ever. The almighty Oda does.**

There was someone standing beside Buggy that I didn't quite recognise, but I didn't pay him much attention as Budel was complaining.

"Don't butt in! This is my fight, you outsiders have nothing to do with this!" he yelled. Ruffy shut him up by smacking his head into a wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nami complained, clearly upset.

"He was in the way." Ruffy explained.

"Good thinking, he would have died, had we let him fight." Zoro pointed out.

"There are other ways of handling that!" Nami tried to no avail.

"I guess, but we didn't have the time for that, and he seemed pretty stubborn. I don't think he could have been persuaded." I offered as an explanation.

Ruffy turned towards Buggy. "Oi, you _tomato nose!_" He yelled challengingly.

Upon hearing this, Buggy's whole crew jawdropped and Buggy ordered to fire the buggy cannon with the words "Die flashily!"

Nami and Zoro started to run for cover, but I stayed, knowing what our captain would do.

"You think that toy's gonna work on me?" he asked, a smirk on his lips. Then he used the Gomu Gomu no Fuusen to bounce the cannonball right back to where it had come from. I chuckled at the big "WTF?" on everyone's faces.

"Right, now they're a bit fewer." Ruffy commented. I nodded agreeing, desperately trying to hold down my laughter, keeping it a violent chuckle.

"The hell was _that?_" Nami demanded to know.

"You and your ideas…" Zoro sighed.

"But effective, that it was." I commented, imitating Yoda.

"I knew it was odd that you could fight that lion! Just what _was_ that?" Nami yelled at Ruffy, demanding an answer.

"My special technique, "Gomu Gomu no Fuusen"." He replied, as if there was nothing weird about it.

"And just what is _that?_" She went on. I was still chuckling like an idiot at the scene. Nami didn't get an answer, however, as Buggy, Kabaji and Guy-who-I-didn't-recognise emerged from the rubble.

"The biggest disgrace in the history of the clan." Kabaji said disapprovingly. The-stranger-who's-name-I-really-really-wanted-to-know-since-this-was-getting-frustrating grunted in agreement.

"I'm so angry that I can't find any words." Buggy said, really furious. One rarely saw him this serious. Then another figure emerged from the rubble. Mohji had revived.

"Aah, man, I fell unconscious…" he moaned. Then he saw Ruffy and panicked. "Aaargh! Captain, watch out for him, he's a rubberman!"

"A rubberman?" Nami asked, looking towards Ruffy.

"Yep, look." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and stretched his cheeks.

"A devil's fruit, huh?" Buggy observed. "But Mohji, if you knew that, then _why didn't you tell me so right away?_"

"Well, I tried…" Mohji tried but he was interrupted by his captain who was flinging him towards us. "Aargh, move!" He screamed as he flew at high speed straight towards us.

"_You_ move." Ruffy countered and kicked him out of the way.

I grunted in disapproval of Buggy's actions. "This is why I hate morganéers. Not caring a shit about others, not even their Nakama."

Ruffy remained focused on Buggy, not seeming to hear my comment. He simply said "Let's begin."

Kabaji and that Mystery-man-you-know-who both charged us, Kabaji yelling that his captain's anger had been transferred to them. They both charged towards our captain. However, as Kabaji thrusted forwards with his sword, Zoro blocked it, reasoning that since this guy seemed to be a swordsman, it was his opponent. That-other-guy, who was a bit behind due to Kabaji riding a unicycle was throwing two knives towards us, but I caught them both, one in each hand and halted his charge with a kick. However, the physical exercise made both of our wounds open up. Ruffy noticed.

"Oi, you two can rest, I'll handle this." He protested, concerned.

Before Zoro could reply I shot in. "Why do you bother asking something when you already know what reply you'll get?"

Both Ruffy and Zoro grinned at my comment and I knew that I'd succeeded with a witty reply for once.

Ruffy stepped aside to allow us some space to fight. I focused my all on this fight as I didn't know this guy's fighting style, and I was still bothered by the fact that I hadn't gotten to know his name yet. On the other hand, he seemed rather bothered by having to fight a girl, and the fact that I was only one hundred and sixty centimetres tall probably didn't help. The guy had yet to utter a single word, which was pretty odd for being in the Buggy crew… But I did get to know what his name was due to some of the Buggy clan's goons still conscious, cheering them both on. "Go! Kabaji! Tori!"

…Wait, "Tori"? As in "bird"? What a silly name…

Without a word he picked up some more knives which he threw towards me, and as I dodged them he rushed forward and started to assault me with some claw-like blades attached to his arms. They kinda looked like a bird's talons. As the laws of physics were kinda messed up here I decided to use that to my advantage. As he lunged forward I leaped up, placing my left hand upon his arm, to keep me airborne and give me some footing, and kicked him straight in the face. He flew backwards a bit, but I noticed that letting my left arm support my weight like that hadn't been such a bright idea. I clasped my shoulder in pain. He saw the opportunity and rose. He used my opening and kicked me in the stomach. I recoiled a bit but it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It seemed he underestimated my endurance as well, as he took out a knife, intending to stab me in the right shoulder, to disable my other arm, but he was filled with openings. I caught his arm easily and turned, twisting his arm into a strained position. I twisted further. There was a snap as both his shoulder and elbow dislocated.

"I plucked your wings, birdie." I said before giving him a foot to chew on. He flew straight through a building. "Sweet dreams."

At almost exactly the same time as I delivered the snack to birdie Zoro closed up his fight with his riceball slash. (Oni giri, if you didn't figure that out)

"Damn it… The Buggy pirates, defeated by a bunch of…thieves" the acrobat said as he blacked out.

"We ain't no thieves." Zoro said, taking off his bandana. "We're pirates." At the last line he collapsed, out of blood loss. "Ruffy, I'm taking a nap! Finish this off, will you?"

I for once, had nothing to add. As our captain cracked his knuckles, telling us he'd take care of the rest, my adrenaline had ran out completely and I finally noticed how exhausted I was, mainly because of the blood loss. I gripped my shoulder in pain and held back some tears. It goes without saying, but getting your shoulderblade penetrated Hurts. Like. Hell. I sat down, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily. Dizziness was creeping up upon me because of my damned low blood pressure. I think I fell asleep because the next thing I knew, Ruffy was patting my uninjured shoulder, waking me up.

"Oi, Embla!"

"Ah, you downed the tomato split already?" I mumbled, still not entirely awake.

"Yep." He answered, grinning. Zoro was already awake. "I got the map and the treasure." Ruffy went on.

"Damn, I don't think I can walk…" Zoro moaned, a wave of dizziness flooding over him. Well, he had been hurt way more that I had.

"Of course you can't!" Nami shot in. "If you could, I'd call none of you human!" She gestured towards the lot of us.

"Why not me?" I and Ruffy said in unison.

"In Ruffy's case, have a damn guess!" she answered, fangs for teeth. "And you…" She pointed at me. "The hell was with that speed?"

I looked puzzled. Speed? What was so odd about my speed? I wasn't faster than what was normal, last time I checked. OK, in school I'd always won the short distance running competitions, but compared to this world, my times would be ridiculous. My speed could hardly compare to Ruffy's or Zoro's. …Right? I shrugged it off. "Anyways, what about the mayor?" I added, wanting to change the subject. I glanced towards said unconscious ossan.

"Hey you!" A voice spoke. It was upset, but not hostile, only on guard. We all turned towards the speaker. "We are the citizens of this village. Do you know what happened? Did the pirates have an internal conflict?" they asked.

Nami looked relieved. "Ah, citizens, I thought that it was more pirates." She sighed and straightened up. "Oh, yes. We know quite a lot of what's been going on here…" she went on, now with confidence in her voice, since there were no longer any enemies around. Or, so she thought.

"Ah! The mayor!" One of the villagers exclaimed. "How terrible! What happened? Did the pirates do this to you?"

"Ah, sorry, I had to knock him out." Ruffy told them bluntly.

"What?" The villagers asked, now furious

"You didn't need to tell them that!" Nami complained.

"But I did, you saw me." Ruffy stated, matter-of-factly.

"Well, I did, but you had a reason!" She went on.

"How dare you beat up an old man?" the citizens roared. "What are you, pirates?"

"We're pirates." Ruffy confirmed, which made Nami fall over in a "Why am I surrounded by idiots?" fashion.

"G_et them!_" The villagers roared. I and Zoro just laughed while Nami yelled out complaints. Ruffy supported Zoro as we ran away, head over heels.

"Why do you have to make everything worse?" Nami nagged.

"Great town, huh?" Ruffy said, followed by a puzzled look from Nami. "They get this upset just because their mayor was hurt. I don't think that any excuses would have helped." He added, smiling broadly. We hastily turned to a narrow alley, where a little feral ally came to our aid. Shushu. She blocked the alley, aiding our escape.

"Thank you, doggy!" Ruffy yelled after her as we ran towards the harbour. I jumped straight to our boat, intending to check on Cat, and indeed, she was sitting in her pile of metal scraps, still tinkering with the cylinder.

"How's it going?" I asked her.

"Forward. Faster than I thought too." She replied. Then she turned her head towards me with a concerned look. "How's your shoulder?"

I smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Then we heard the voices of the "freeloaders" "greeting" Nami. Then a gasp, as they saw Zoro's face. To further mock them, I stood up and asked "Huh, you guys still here?"

Upon sighting me, the one who'd smacked them, they panicked and fled by sea, swimming for their lives. I shrugged and sat down as the others got on, Nami on the flashy boat and the rest of us on the other one. As we set out the mayor came running, screaming insults to call upon our attention.

"I'm sorry! I'll pay you back one day!" ye yelled after us, smiling. We waved back, with big grins upon our faces.

**Now starting SBS!**

**I have only gotten one question, though…**

**Was Bu****del supposed to be called Pudel all the story, even after the name was said? and I wonder how exactly the actual talking will be later when Choppa come in, I mean with 2 animal member´s Choppa can talk to non-talking animal, will cat too? All those stuff / Mionic T**

**Right, Mio, I will excuse your horrible spelling and grammar, as you're twelve and Swedish****… Anyways, about Budel, well… Embla just found the pun amusing and went on using it. And well, about Cat… I haven't decided yet, but she most probably won't. She'll be able to talk to other cats, but that's it. Also, I might make Choppa unable to talk to cats, just for the fun of it. Cats are, as you probably know, not very social animals. But I haven't decided yet. Feel free to make your opinions heard about this; I'll be glad to hear them. **

**And then about Embla's strength level and fighting style. She might seem kinda strong at the moment, but in raw strength she can't compare to the monsters, but due to her amazing speed, which she is currently unaware of, and her agility and her skill with weapons, she will still be grouped among the monsters. At the moment, she is not too familiar with her power level, but she will learn quickly as her experience increases. Her style is pretty much using a variety of aikido techniques ****to throw her opponent off-balance, sometimes dislocating some joints, and then delivering a number of improvised blows when fighting unarmed. Otherwise, her fighting style depends on the weapon she is currently using. Her physical strength is somewhere between Sanji and Brook, making her the strongest female fighter.**


	7. Potted bush

**This chapter will be from Cat's POV. Oh, and just so you know, Embla has got white hair, which is the reason of Cat's nickname for her.**

I'd grown tired of the endless tinkering and decided to take a short nap, but I could not as the humans were too noisy. Captain was cheering that his hat was fixed and there was overall commotion. No one knew how to make noise such as he did. The noise woke up the green sleepyhead. I simply did my best to rest with one eye half opened, glaring at them the way us cats usually do.

"You're noisy, I can't even sleep in peace." Greenhead said, rather annoyed. Whitehead wouldn't wake up, she could even sleep through a thunderstorm...

"Oi, Nami! Got any food to share?" Greenhead shot in, changing the course of my thoughts.

"Really, now. How did you expect to survive like this, without food and water? Are you completely out of your minds?" Ginger nagged, but she still gave him a piece of bread.

I nodded. They were. The lot of them, Whitehead included.

"Seriously, just how have you managed to survive so far?" Ginger went on.

"Who knows." Greenhead shrugged, chewing down the bread.

"Island, ho!" Captain exclaimed. I jumped down and sat up at the front end of the boat.

"Oh, no. Not that one, it's uninhabited." Ginger tried, but the two idiots who were awake had already started rowing, the whitehead still sleeping.

"Maybe we'll find another crew member there." Captain said enthusiastically, completely ignoring Ginger's words.

"It's enough if we can find some food. Nami's got a point, we should start planning better." Greenhead commented. I scratched my ear and yawned.

We soon landed on the island, which was filled with forest. Greenhead had fallen asleep again and Whitehead _still_ hadn't woken up.

"We're here!" Captain exclaimed. "Nothing here! Only forest!"

"Well, I told you that the island was uninhabited. How did you expect to find a crew member here?" Ginger tried, but she was ignored.

"Oi, Zoro! Embla! We're here, let's go!" Captain tried, but he got only snoring for an answer.

I answered instead."They're asleep." I jumped down and stretched my back. "But I'll come along."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Ginger wondered.

"There might be houses further in." Captain said enthusiastically, completely ignoring Ginger constantly informing him that the island was uninhabited.

Ginger just sighed, but we had hardly walked ten metres before a real oddball appeared. A... Wolfster, or maybe Roolf would be a better name for the creature. Normally, my dog phobia would have kicked in at first sight of the creature, but the pure bizarreness of the animal was enough to nullify it, leaving me just standing there, dumbfounded. I didn't know the story as thoroughly as Whitehead, and it was quite some time ago that I'd read the early books. I didn't remember this arc.

Ginger seemed just as surprised by the creature as I, Captain thought it was neat.

"...What?" Ginger tried.

"...Roolf..." was all that I could manage to say, completely weirded out.

Next up was a Snabbit, and I started to vaguely recognise the place. Something about a potted bush... Then we passed another weirdo.

"What a weird lion!" Captain exclaimed, quite exited.

"Isn't that a pig? A weird pig?" Ginger argued.

"A Pion." I compromised.

Then we heard a voice.

"Don't you go any further!"

"Huh? Whossat?" Captain wondered and looked around.

"What? Who?" Ginger chimed, starting to panic.

"Unknown voice. Usually a sign of insanity, but since we're all hearing it, then it's a different matter." I said, keeping my cool.

"I am the guardian of this forest. Leave now if you value your lives." The voice threatened.

"Guardian of the forest?" Captain repeated.

"Are you pirates?" The voice asked.

"Yes, we are." Captain answered without hesitation. I wondered why the voice would ask that.

"I thought so. Don't you take another step further if you want to avoid the forest's judgement!" Useless threats. The voice's words was pretty much ignored.

"Just who..?" Ginger wondered.

"A real weirdo, all right." captain pointed out. I nodded in agreement.

"What did you say you little straw hat bastard?" The voice was getting angry.

"Show yourself!" Ginger yelled out, having serious trouble keeping her calm.

"He is somewhere around here..." Captain said and, without any worry, started to walk forward. Then the voice spoke again.

" I warned you! The judgement has fallen!" and I heard a gunshot. Captain got hit in the back, but the bullet bounced right back. Being rubber must be bloody handy. While Ginger commented and the voice was awestruck, I ventured towards where the bullet had come from. There was a bush. In a box. With a gun, still emanating gun smoke from it's opening, lying beside it. I didn't speak, though, out of pure habit.

"What's this bush?" Captain wondered as he approached it.

"Whatever it it, it shot a bullet at you." I pointed out.

The bush seemed to become terrified and hightailed, feet now visible underneath it, kinda like the luggage, only with two feet instead of hundreds, and with a bush on top. Then it tripped. And demanded that we should help it get up.

Some time later.

"The Gomu Gomu no mi you say? A devil's fruit I take it. I've heard tales about them, but this is the first time I've met one who actually ate one." The Luggage told us. He had presented himself as Gaimon.

"Well, this is the first time I've met a man in a treasure chest. Are you a son in a box?" Captain countered.

" Well, yes. When I was little my parents... _are you mocking me?" _The Luggage roared angrily. Captain just laughed. Luggage continued, telling how he'd been stuck in the box for over twenty years. Captain responded by calling him an idiot. I had to agree on that point. Only an idiot could remain stuck in the very same box for that long I reasoned. Luggage replied by getting pissed off, not surprising.

"You said that you were pirates, yes? I was a pirate once, too." He said, calming down.

"Well, you certainly don't look like it." I shot in, earning a furious glare from the Luggage before he continued.

"Do you have a treasure map?"

"Nope, but I do have a map of the Grand Line. I'm gonna go there and find One Piece." Captain answered, grinning broadly. Then he made an attempt to pull Luggage out of the box, but failed. Luggage explained that he'd been stuck in that box so long that it had become a part of him. Then he changed the topic. "Do you know where it is, then? The Grand Line?"

"Not the faintest. I can't read maps." captain answered, matter-of-factly.

"You neither, huh?" The Luggage said and they both burst out laughing. I jumped in between them and pointed at a place on the map, that happened to be reverse mountain.

"That's the entrance."

Then Ginger explained the location of the Grand Line and also told us that the only one to ever have mastered those waters was the pirate king, Gol D Roger and his crew.

"Which means that One Piece is somewhere out there. It'll be a trip around the world." Captain as if it were as simple as taking a walk. Or, at least, that's what it sounded to the unfamiliar ear. I knew, and so did the duo sleeping back on the boat, that he knew just how hard it was, but he was going to do it anyway, no matter what wall he had to climd, what enemy he had to face or what obstacle he had to overcome. He'd get there, and his nakama would be right beside him.

I caught myself wearing a dreamy grin when the luggage, unknowing of what kind of person Captain was, interrupted my thoughts with an annoyingly stupid comment.

"Fool! Do you think it's that easy? The Grand Line is also called the Pirate Graveyard, and it is for a reason!" His line ticked me off, but he still continued. "I've seen pirates who has desperately escaped from there. It was a terrifying sight. If they had encountered natural disasters, enormous monsters, I didn't know. They didn't say a word, but one look at them was enough to understand what a mad place that sea really is."

Upon hearing this, Ginger swallowed hard, but Captain only seemed to get more enthusiastic.

Luggage went on. "And when it comes to One Piece, the situation is hopeless. It's been twenty two years and still no one has even sighted it. It's already becoming a legend. It's too great, boy. Just give it up." Luggage tried, but Captain wasn't disheartened in the least.

"I'll probably find it, I'm pretty lucky." He said, smiling his trademark, physics-defying smile.

"And I'd like to know where all your confidence comes from." Ginger said, being realistic. Bo-ring.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew him better." I shot in. The Luggage was still slightly unnerved by the fact that I was talking, even without the power of a devil's fruit, but it didn't matter at the moment as he'd gotten quite inspired by captain and his strong faith in his dream. He tended to have that effect on people. He proceeded by telling us of how he got stuck in the chest and why he couldn't leave the island. I listened, wanting to remember the arc more clearly.

We decided to help the poor bush and followed him to the said cliff. Even Ginger agreed that the treasure belonged to the Luggage. The cliff was high and steep. Ginger put a hand on Captain's shoulder.

"Right, up you go." She said, looking up.

"Huh? Why me?" He wondered.

"You think I can climb that" Ginger complained.

"And I can't lift a frikkin' treasure chest." I informed them.

"Well, OK then." He said and used a one handed rocket to launch himself up the wall. I sat down, swinging my tail from side to side impatiently as I waited.

He soon emerged, a treasure chest in his arms.

"They're here, all right! Five of 'em!"

"OK, just drop them down here!" The Luggage yelled back merrily.

"Nope." Was captain's answer.

"...I see." I mumbled.

"Stop being silly and just drop them!" Ginger yelled back, anger rising.

"Nuh uh. Don't wanna." Captain went on, smirking.

Ginger got pissed and was going to yell something really ugly when the Luggage stopped her.

"No, it's OK." he told her.

"OK? It's not OK. That's the treasure that you've guarded for twenty years!" She countered, now both puzzled and pissed off. Luggage ignored that and turned towards Captain.

"Thank you! You're such a nice guy!"

Ginger didn't get it at all. "What are you saying?"

" I tried not to think about it... I knew it was a possibility, but I forced myself not to think about it." Luggage went on, getting more and more teary eyed for every word. Felt sorry for the fella, that I did. "The chests are empty, aren't they?" He said, the tears now flowing steadily down his cheeks.

"Yep. Empty, all of them." Captain confirmed.

"No way... Is the treasure that you've guarded all these years, only... empty boxes?" Ginger gasped, voice filled with shock, disbelief and pity.

"It happens occasionally." I said, feeling that I had to contribute to the conversation. "That's how treasure hunting is. The treasure is often taken already when you get hold of the map. It's kinda like a lottery."

Luggage nodded, tears in his eyes still. But then Captain burst out laughing.

"Ah, but what the hell, mop guy. Now you got to know after only twenty years! Thirty more years and you'd be dead without ever getting to know!" The luggage seemed to brighten up a bit at his words. But Captain had more to say. "Now you just have to aim high! For One Piece! Why don't you join my pirate clan?"

I blinked at that. I had seriously not seen that one coming.

"You're.. You're inviting me?" The luggage said, his current tears being tears of joy.

We were now back by the boats.

"Are you sure that you're going to stay?"

"Yes." Luggage replied, but he was a lot more spirited now. "I take it that you saw a lot of weird animals in the forest?" he asked.

"If you're talking about the Roolf and the Snabbit, affirmative." I answered.

"There are more people coming here to poach the animals than there are who comes looking for the treasure. It's been an odd relationship, but they've become my nakama. I can't just abandon them." He explained.

I smiled that and leaved the humans with their conversation, wanting to check on my fellow earthling.

She was awake. So was Greenhead. They were playing a card game that I knew all too well. Race for the Galaxy. Oh, how many times I've seen Whitehead and her brother sitting at the dinner table, playing endlessly. I jumped up beside whitehead and examined the table, or well, the floor. Then her hand. Then Greenhead's hand. I shook my head, Whitehead was wiping the floor with him.

"You don't go easy even on freshmeat, do you?" I commented. Greenhead grunted, his annoyance apparent.

Whitehead raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that Zoro would have it any other way?" she said with a sigh and developed Galactic Federation. She's taken the development strategy. "No challenge." she sighed.

I counted the cards. Twelve. The match was over, Whitehead's victory obvoius.

"I demand a rematch!" Greenhead exclaimed, frustrated over his loss.

"Right, fine. You _are_ getting better at this, after all." Whitehead replied and started to shuffle the cards.

Captain and Ginger was saying farewell to the Luggage and once again, we set out.

**Longest chapter ever! That's one of the reasons of why it took so long, too.**

**Got a lot of questions... here we go.**

**From Mionic t: **

**just for the fun of it, i hereby, in the name of the "we take over jhonie´s sbs-clan" i´m gonna start the sbs! wait, i´m in the flame edge clan, not the "we take over jhonie´s sbs-clan"... **

**J: That's right, haHAA! You're already my subordinate, mwehehee... But hey, wait... The SBS has already started... **_**Damn you Mio!**_

**From Seraph:**

**Hmm I like the fact that Cats are not very Sociable, but you should make Choppa able to talk to cats, just that Cat won't talk to him much ^_^**

**And for the SBS, do you think Embla or Cat are gonna eat a Devil Fruit later on? ^^ **

**J: First about Cat, I realise that both Cat and Choppa should be able to talk to animals, since they're both animals after all, but Choppa ate the Hito Hito no mi and became able to speak human, and cat learned to speak human because she was bored.**

**And as for the devil's fruit, by all probability, no. Embla will use Cat's crazy inventions and some other stuff that I will reveal later. Giving her a devil's fruit on top of that would make her overpowered, in my opinion. It will all become so much more clear later. Pretty soon, actually. **

**Another one from Mionic t:**

**i´ve got that there will be sevral more enemies, and possible islands, but will it be more members? **

**J: Still thinking about it. There might be. Have yet to decide, but that would not be before GL, so you'll have to wait.**

**From Camie-chan:**

**Is she stronger than Robin? Cause you said strongest female... And I'm Swedish and twelve too! Heh.**

**J: Fun to see another Swede around! And I'm fifteen, by the way. **

**Is she stronger than Robin, you say? It depends on how you look at it. Embla is a close combatant, as is the rest of the Monster Four, and as we know, Robin doesn't last long in close combat, but she's really deadly at long range. In sheer strength, however, Embla is much stronger.**

**That's it for SBS for this time and tune in next week for the next chapter! It will go a bit slower at the holiday, I know. Live with it. **


	8. Enter Usopp

**It took me a while, sorry for that. The reason is because of the awesome constructive feedback that I got from Cookie Krisp, I felt like Re-writing the whole seventh chapter. It got better. Thanks a hell of a lot! And yes, I know that ridiculosity ain't a real word, but you get what I mean and there is nothing wrong with using made-up words, is there? We do at home constantly.**

**Oh, and I still do not own One Piece, or any of Terry Pratchett's awesome books. Or Warhammer, I do remember that I referred to that in chapter two.**

**On with the story.**

"What's that book you've been reading?"

"Huh?" I looked up into the face of our ginger navigator. Nom… ginger… She was wearing a curious smile. I smiled back and tilted the book, showing her the cover. It didn't make her less questioning, however. The realization made me facepalm. Of course! The book was in English.

"It's called Soul Music."

"Oh. It's in English, isn't it?" she asked. I nodded.

"I see…" she said, seeming to ponder this. Then she sat down beside me, peeking over my shoulder. "What's it about?"

I smiled and closed the book. "It's about a world called Discworld, a flat world carried on the back of four elephants, standing on the shell of a giant Turtle. This specific book is about what happens when Rock music comes to Discworld," I told her. "I love the scene when Death rides a motorbike straight through a solid oak gate!"

She raised an eyebrow at this. "Death you say?"

I nodded. "Yes, he's my favorite character in all of the Discworld novels!" I told her, grinning broadly.

She seemed pretty interested at this point so I offered to lend her one of the books. She accepted, as long as it was for free. I picked out The Wee Free Men for her, imagining that she'd like Tiffany, not to mention Weatherwax.

"I hope that you're good at English," I warned her.

"I am quite decent, thank you," she replied, seeming slightly offended.

"'Cos he really likes to play with the language, the author I mean," I continued. I saw a slight bit of worry flash briefly in her eyes, but she swiftly hid it. Japanese…

"I can manage," she told me.

I simply nodded and told her "If you have any questions about it, don't hesitate to ask."

She nodded gratefully, but then she gained her questioning look again. "But how comes you're so good at English?"

I knew it would come sooner or later, a question regarding my past life. I'd left all of that behind. I tilted my head to one side and told her with a quirky smirk "Secret. Might tell you one day."

She didn't ask any further, she simply smiled, understanding, and sat down in her boat. I was still on the same boat as the guys. It kinda represented who was really in the crew and who wasn't. It wasn't in any way intentional, though. I simply felt more comfortable with the guys. Cat was still tinkering with her invention. She said that she was almost finished. Zoro was currently sleeping and Ruffy was sitting at the front of the ship, enjoying the freedom of the sea. The weather was nice and according to Nami, it would remain so for some days. It was some time still until we reached land. I turned back to my book, but I did start to feel a silent gnawing in my stomach, demanding sugar.

"Madness" Nami said out of the blue. I, mind still in Discworld, replied "Ah, Rob Anybody and company? Yep, they're mad, the lot of them."

I got quite the bump on my head for that.

"We can't just venture into the Grand Line like this. We're too unprepared," she tried.

"True enough. The fruit we got from the bush-guy isn't enough. We need meat too!" Ruffy said, thinking with his stomach, as usual.

"That's not what I meant!" Nami yelled at him.

"That's right, we need rum too!" Zoro added.

"Rum's a bit too strong for me, but a few barrels of mead wouldn't be too wrong. And sugar. We need sugar. Really, I need my sugar," I told them, but sensing the killing intent emanating from the navigator, I quickly added "But I see what Nami's getting at. We need a proper ship."

Nami relaxed, and looked now a bit grateful. "Thank you, Embla-chan."

"Skip the "chan", it feels weird," I shot in, a bit weakly. Then I and Zoro got into a conversation around different alcohol drinks. Nami sighed, feeling a bit abandoned. But then she told us about the island that we were heading for, and about the village at the coast.

"Syrup village," I said without thinking.

The others looked surprised. "You've been there before?" Ruffy asked. Now I noticed the scratch marks on his nose. I shook my head. "No, I haven't. And you've been peeking at Cat's work, I see."

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah. She sure is fierce sometimes…"

I simply nodded and showed the scar I had on my right arm. It was pretty big. "One of my many catoos."

He chuckled.

I turned to Zoro, card deck in hand. "A game?"

He grunted with a smirk on his lips. "Sure, but don't you expect to win this time."

Some time later we reached land. I'd won that game again and Zoro was a tad annoyed at the fact that he hadn't beaten me once still. I strapped my sword to my back and jumped off the boat. It was nice to have nice solid ground beneath my feet again as I hadn't really acquired sea legs yet. The sun was shi- I mean burning and the sky was clear. The fresh and clean air of this world was still enough to get me in a good mood. It was so different from the polluted air of my world. Cat jumped down and walked up to my side.

"So, there's a village further in, huh?" Ruffy asked.

"Yes, It's a small one, but a village all the same," Nami confirmed.

I stretched my shoulder, testing it. Yup, all healed. Zoro stretched as well, but for a different reason. "Aah, been a while since I had solid ground beneath my feet," he said, yawning.

"Ya, 'cos you've been sleeping all this time," Cat shot at him.

Zoro ignored her. "By the way, who are they?" he asked and pointed towards a few bushes on a cliff by the beach. Those bushes just happened to be Usopp and CO.'s hiding spot. It frightened the shit out of the three kiddos and they hightailed, ignoring Usopp's protests. What were their names again? Right, it was Piiman, Tamanegi and Ninjin.

Usopp swiftly recovered from having been abandoned and stood proudly in front of us, attempting to look intimidating. He failed though.

"My name is Captain Usopp! The great leader of the great pirate clan of this village! I advise against attacking this village, as I've got ten million men behind me!" he bragged. What a telltale.

Before Nami could point out that he was lying I held up my hand, deciding to have some fun.

"Ten million, you say? Wow, that's more than there are people in my homeland! You must be pretty strong then, care to spar?" I smirked at him and took a fighting stance, hands on my sword. Usopp's face turned into a mask of terror, but then Nami shot in.

"Stupid. He's obviously lying. Anyone could tell," she told me sharply.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and took on a casual stance. "I'm not stupid, Nami. I simply enjoy going along with total ridiculousity," I countered with an amused smirk.

Ruffy laughed out loud. "You're funny!"

This pissed off a certain long-nose. "Don't you make fun of me; I'm a man of pride! They even call me Usopp the proud! …Or was that Usopp the dork?" he added that last part mostly to himself, but Cat heard it nevertheless and had some trouble holding back a violent fit of laughter.

Some time later we sat at the village's tavern, eating. Oh, and telling Usopp about our journey. Ruffy was munching down a big piece of meat, his tenth serving. Zoro was on his third bottle of rum and I could not help but to order a fifth serving of dessert. It was cake, dammit! There was a severe lack of sugar content on our boat and it was making me grumpy. Cat was still eating her first serving of fish, but she was guarding it well. Ruffy was careful to keep his rubber hands off of her food nowadays as the slightest little theft was answered by five sharp claws. Nami was simply enjoying a cuppa tea.

"Looking for crew mates and a ship you say? My, that sounds like quite the adventure!" Usopp exclaimed, happy to hear some pirate stories that weren't coming from his own mouth for once. Better up, these were true too. "Well, we don't have any grand ships in our village, but if there is anyone that has a ship, it's her."

Hoping to speed up the conversation a bit I said "The owner of the mansion, you mean?"

Usopp's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

The rest was eying me with curious expressions. I shrugged. "Saw it on our way here." A lie, but I didn't want to reveal myself just yet.

To my relief, the focus was turned back to the discussion. Usopp spoke. "Yes. Or, well, even though I say owner… She's sick and bedridden, poor girl. Hardly any older than me."

Nami got a concerned look on her face, but the rest of us lost interest. "But how did such a young girl come to own such a big mansion?" Nami asked. The rest of us, however, were asking for seconds. This pissed Usopp off. "Are you guys even listening?"

Well, we weren't. That is, until Nami sighed and banged her hand in the table. "No, let's forget about finding a ship here," she said, showing one of her rare displays of sympathy.

Ruffy, now paying attention, chuckled and agreed. "Shishishi. Ya, we'll get food here, that's enough."

Usopp cleaned his throat, calling upon our attention. "You said you searched for crewmates, right?"

"That's right! You know someone who's good?" Ruffy asked with his usual curiosity.

"If you really want it, I can be your captain!" Usopp blurted out, seemingly serious, but at the very least confident. Without a second of hesitation we all denied his offer. "Not a chance" we all said as one.

"I see that was swiftly decided!" Usopp yelled at us, upset.

Cat rolled her eyes and murmured "Did he seriously think that we'd accept?"

I shrugged, and replied quietly. "This _is_ Usopp we're talking about here."

Not hearing our brief exchange of words, Usopp sighed and threw a brief glance at the clock. Then he seemed to get in a hurry and mumbled something about "It's time". He sped off, leaving us, slightly confused, to finish our meal. Just as we had finished eating and Ruffy was sipping on a cup of tea, Usopp's three kid followers appeared in the doorway, wooden swords in hand. They were screaming something. "Usopp's pirate clan, ready for battle!"

The rest of the people in the tavern were paying them no attention. How very wise of them.

"What do they want?" Nami asked to no one in particular.

"Who knows?" Ruffy replied, drinking tea.

I shrugged and gulped down the rest of the contents in my cup in one gulp. This made Nami upset. "Oi, tea is supposed to be enjoyed slowly!"

I shrugged again and simply replied "This is how I've always drunk my tea."

The kiddo trio, kinda terrified (Hey, they were currently confronting genuine pirates!), were mumbling to each other.

"Captain isn't here…"

"Have they already killed him?"

They gathered their courage and yelled at us. "Oi, you pirates!"

"What have you done with Captain Usopp?"

"Give back Captain!"

It seemed as if they'd rehearsed it, they were in such great sync.

Ruffy got a mischievous look in his eyes and sighed contently, placing down his cup. "Aah, that was some good meat!"

The trio got even more terrified. "What? Meat? They couldn't have… Captain!"

Perfectly timed, I burped one of my trademark, very loud, very deep burps. Cat gave me a look. "Embla, eww."

"You wondered where your captain has gone, huh?" Zoro asked them, getting quite the mischievous look in his eyes. Nami giggled at us. The kiddos gulped. I understood them; Zoro really knew how to be scary at times. "We just ate him," he went on. He was really creepy now.

The kids totally panicked and shouted "Aaah! Onibaba!" looking at Nami, making her really pissed. I could see where that one came from, though. She could be pretty darn scary at times. All of us, excluding Nami, laughed out loud as the kids fainted.

Nami, still in demon-mode, screamed at us. "Stop scaring little kids like that!"

The kids soon recovered from the mental shock and Cat told them, in short, what had occurred since we entered the tavern.

"It's time?" they wondered.

"Yup, he said that and ran off," Zoro confirmed.

"Ah, then it's time for Captain to go to the mansion," One of the kiddos said. Piiman, I think.

"The mansion with the sick girl?" Nami asked them.

"Have you seen any other mansion around?" Cat shot in dryly, but she was ignored as usual.

"Yes, he's going there to tell lies!" one other said. I think this one was Ninjin.

"Isn't that bad?" Ruffy remarked.

"No it isn't, it's good, right?" one of them kids countered. This one was Piiman.

"Yup, it's great!" It was Tamanegi this time.

Ruffy frowned in confusion, not getting it. I smirked. "He tells made up stories to cheer her up, right?" That earned me a glare from Cat's direction.

"Yes, that's right," Ninjin confirmed.

"Ah, but then he's a nice guy!" Ruffy noted.

Cat cleaning her fur, sharply said "Thank You, Captain Obvious," but her dry comment was ignored, as always.

"I like his nosiness!" Ninjin said.

"I like his cowardice!" Piiman added.

"I like his lies!" Tamanegi said.

"I see he's got fans," Zoro commented.

I nodded. "But those are some odd strong points. Normally that would be weak points."

Ruffy brightened up. "So that means that she's all right now, huh?"

"Yes, she is!" Piiman confirmed.

Ruffy stood up and exclaimed "Yosh, then we'll go there and ask for a ship!" No shred of doubt there, he had decided.

I and Zoro rose up as well, preparing to leave. Nami, however, tried to protest. "Wait, I said that we weren't going!" but Ruffy didn't listen.

"Give it up, Ginger," cat told her. "He's already made up his mind."

She sighed, but in the end, she followed us as we walked to the mansion.

**This time, I start the SBS, HAH! Take that, Mio!**

**From Seraph:**

**Wow, I Love Cat's POV xD Mjau! And I love how she refers to people by Hair Color x3 Pet your cat for me. ^^ SBS: Where did Cat learn how to build those ingenious inventions? **

**J:**

**She dissected a few human-made electronics ('cos she was bored) and went upwards from there. Simply put, she taught herself.**

**From Mionic T:**

**What is race for the galaxy? And for cat´s nickname´s, what will he call Choppa, as he doesn't have a particular hair color, and both robin and Usopp are black haired... **

**J:**

**Race for the Galaxy is a card game of Awesomness (That I do not own any rights to whatsoever). Dude, you have to try it some time. BTW, beginners luck won't work in that game, it's all about strategy and combinations.**

**And as for the nicknames, Cat doesn't nickname people because of their haircolor, but because of what they **_**are**_**. Ruffy's the Captain, Embla's the Whitehead, Zoro's the Greenhead etc. I won't tell what the others will be called. Dun' wanna spoil the surprises X3 I can tell you that Usopp's Pinocchio, though.**

**From Ichigo1508:**

**Good job! XD By the way, is Embla going to eat a devil fruit? XD**

**J:**

**I'm pretty sure that I already answered that, didn't I? She won't. She might find one, though, but she won't eat one. Cat might, though.**


	9. I hate them butlers

**I deeply apologise for the long wait. You know how it is during holiday... ^^' In this chapter I use quite a lot of insults that might seem weird, but many of them are Swedish insults that didn't have a fitting enough counterpart in English, so I simply translated them. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, Race for the Galaxy, Warhammer, Discworld or the word Ebil. I only own Embla, and well... Cat sorta owns herself. You know how cats are. **

**And I really hope that I didn't write Zoro too OOC, as this chapter includes a short piece prom his PoV. It's always slightly difficult for me to tell what he's thinking. **

We shortly arrived at the mansion. The thoughts currently occupying my mind was what kind of enemies I might face. I hoped that I'd get some big opponents, they were funniest to throw. I picked up a strand of straw and put it in my mouth, chewing on in. It helped me thinking.

"Hello! Can we have a ship?" Ruffy asked with a loud voice directed at the mansion, even though there was no one there to hear. "There, let's go."

He had quickly swung himself up the gate and was climbing over it as Nami sighed. "Argh, can't anyone stop him?"

"Nope, we can only watch," Zoro told her calmly.

"That's the kind of guy he is," I said and started climbing. It had been a while since last time, but I always had loved climbing. Zoro followed without a word and after a slight moment of hesitation and a deep sigh, so did Nami. Cat simply slipped through the bars, Kiddie trio had some other way around, I think it was a hole in the hedge. It was a good thing that the guards were gone. Why were they again? I tried to remember, but to my deep disappointment, I failed. The finer details of the story was slowly fading from my memory and that bothered me. I decided that I'd talk to Cat about it later. Mentally returning to the present I swung over the edge of the gate and jumped down the remaining distance. We all swiftly lessened the distance between us and Usopp and, perfectly timed with his story, the Usopp pirates all called him in unison.

"Captain!"

Ah, the look on Usopp's face when he realised we were there. One of many oh-so-priceless moments. Somehow I managed to keep my cool though, and not break out in a chuckle, which was quite unusual for me. I usually broke down in a fit of laughter at these kind of moments. Maybe it was because I'd seen it before, maybe because I was a bit tensed up about the upcoming fight.

Before I knew it, bloody butler appeared to annoy the hell out of us. He and that freaky way to adjust his glasses, and those... marks on his suit, shaped like something that I'm too decent to name.

"We do not like uninvited guests here," he told us sharply. Shitboot.

Usopp looked vastly uncomfortable and turned his head the other way. "Shit, the butler!"

The rest of the crew shot him questioning glances while Usopp's followers looked very uncomfortable indeed, as if they had been caught in the middle of an apple theft.

Ruffy simply asked, to no one in particular "Whossat?"

Probably not even intending to, Kaya answered his question. "Krahadol..."

As said dastardly butler approached us, Kaya begun "Krahadol, I can explain..." but she was waved into silence.

"Save your excuses for later, Kaya-sama." Man, I hate that guy. However, there was a couple of things preventing me from jumping forward and punching that guy silly, and that was firstly, he was Ruffy's opponent, and I wasn't going to steal the spotlight. Secondly, the one to punch him in this scene was Usopp, not me. Third, Kaya still thought him to be a good guy. Finally, I would probably not win in a serious fight against him. Still, there were few people in the whole series that I hated as much as I hated this guy.

"Run off now, or did you have any actual errand here?" he said, acting out the role of loyal, but grumpy butler just fine.

"Jerkface," I muttered under my breath, arms crossed, but trying my best to hide my loath and appear relaxed. Gods, I hate that man. I reached to my pocket for some ginger toffee to calm my nerves.

"Oh, yes! Can we have a boat?" Ruffy asked hopefully, unaware of the guy's true personality. Ruffy's instincts rarely proved wrong, but maybe they hadn't kicked in yet. Or he could be covering it up. I chewed down on my toffee in annoyance.

"No, you cannot," was Jerkface's immediate reply. Ruffy looked quite depressed for a short moment after the denial, but he recovered after a comforting pat on the back from Zoro.

"If looks could kill..." a voice a bit below me stated to call upon my attention, "that guy would be long dead by now, minding the glares you've been aiming at him," Cat said and gave me a quirky smirk.

I raised an eyebrow at my furry companion. Was it that apparent? I had to work on my acting skills. Otherwise I'd probably be forced to tell them, something that I wasn't too eager to do. I swallowed, the sugar helping me calm down.

Then Jerkface finally seemed to notice our good friend the long-nose. "Ah, if it isn't mister Usopp."

Said liar got further overcome by anxiety as he seemed to have hoped to remain unnoticed. Futile, really. He had a look that calls upon one's attention, especially with that nose of his. Kaya's eyes seemed currently filled with pity for our sniper, no big surprise, really. I chewed down on another ginger toffee. Damn, I had to get more, I only had a few left. If only I could learn how to cook my own, it would solve so much!

"I've heard quite some stories about you from the villagers," Jerkface went on, seemingly oblivious to my death glares. "You are quite the celebrity." He had a slight hint of mockery in his tone.

Usopp, however, did not seem to notice this spice and brightened up somewhat and went about with his usual rant. "Why, that's music to my ears! You may call me Captain Usopp!" he said, proudly pointing at himself with his thumb. Straight back, head raised. He sure knew how to brag. On that point he was the polar opposite to Ruffy. He was on several points, mind. But, at the same time, they were so damn similar.

...I'm getting way off topic.

Shit-suit spoke up again. "The guards reported seeing you multiple times in the area, is there something that you want?"

There he was again, adjusting his glasses in that creepy way. I could sense his aura growing ever more hostile. Wait, aura? I sensed his aura? I'd have to look further into that later.

Usopp spoke. "That's right! I saw a golden mole sneak in here and I wanted to catch it."

I knew that the following exchange of words would be too much for my patience to bear. Sure, I already knew the whole story by heart, all the way until we arrived on Fishman island in two years and a half, but seeing it all for real like this was a different thing entirely. It stirred my emotions deeply enough when I read it, but now... I had to focus on something to keep my body reined, to stop myself from beating that Jerkface to a bloody pulp. Good thing that I'd always been good at disappearing into my own thoughts. Metaphorically spoken, of course. Thus I spent the rest of the heated conversation by thinking over my weapons arsenal. It was slim at best. I deeply hoped that Syrup village had a decent weapons shop.

After I'd made a rather long shopping list in my mind I woke up from my thoughts, now significantly calmer, to the sight of Nami and Cat holding back the Kiddie trio and Zoro struggling to keep our captain from charging Kuro. I decided to help him, and I knew just what to say. I placed a hand on Ruffy's shoulder and whispered "Easy, you'll get to kick his ass later, I assure you."

His eyes widened in slight surprise, but he did seem to calm down. Zoro raised an eyebrow as he seemed to have heard it too and gave me a look of slight suspicion. Always the wary one. Well, he wasn't the first mate for naught.

Dork seemed to gather himself after the hit (all act of course) and yelled at us. "All of you, be gone! And don't you dare return!" He was a good actor, I'd grant him that. Made me hate him all the more.

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me," Usopp said with a look of fury and stomped out of the grounds. We followed shortly. I saw the pained expression on Kaya's face as we left. I turned for a second and gave her an apologetic smile that tried to say _"don't worry, It'll all be fine in the end."_

As Usopp had gone out of sight Ruffy asked Ninjin where he used to go when he was depressed and left for the shore the moment he got to know. The rest of us went towards the village.

**Zoro's PoV**

That Embla never ceased to puzzle me. She always seemed to know more than she appeared to, almost as if she knew what would happen next. It wasn't as if I didn't trust her, because I did, really, but she was hiding something. Her and that Cat. I wasn't too sure why I cared at all. They'd tell us sooner or later if they wished to.

Now wait just a moment. "Oi, where did Embla go?"

We'd settled down on a fence a short distance outside the village. Cat opened an eye lazily and answered me. "Whitehead went to town. Smelled an upcoming fight she said. Needed a wider weapons arsenal."

The sword she had wasn't enough, huh? Well, she was the weapons expert. To be honest, I kind of looked forward to see her fight for real. So far I'd only gotten a few peeks on her style and I couldn't really say that I had seen anything that resembled those movements she used in battle. She was an interesting person.

Hey, wait. Why was I thinking about her anyway? I shook my head to clear it, there was more important matters at hand here. Something was seriously wrong here, I could smell it. But at the moment, I couldn't do much, so I decided that it was just as good to take a nap.

**Embla's PoV**

Unlike my fellow Straw hats (Well, Nami hadn't become our nakama for real yet) I was pretty thoughtful. When we raided the bandit fort when I first joined the crew I didn't just steal food, but metal scraps for Cat, a shamisen and some serious amounts of money, which I currently had in my pocket as I walked into the weapons store. I got pretty disappointed at the sight, though, as their assortment was all but wide. I got my hands on a good pair of daggers and some throwing knives though. But there was one other thing that I had a feeling that I'd really need. A proper chain. A chain can be a devastating weapon when wielded by skilled hands. Thus I went to a couple of other stores to find a proper, one metre long chain that wasn't too heavy, or with too large links, or too small for that matte, but still sturdy enough. When I finally found one that satisfied me I heard a commotion at the edge of the village, moving towards the centre. It was Usopp trying to warn everyone. Which meant that I was behind schedule. Which meant that I had to run like an idiot if I were to experience a lol-moment. I like lol-moments.

When I arrived back at the fence where we had sat earlier they had already left. But I could still see them. I could still catch up. I rushed hard for it, but in the end I had a hard time stopping and crashed straight into Zoro. Poor sod always had to be the living airbag. He got the classical fang-expression as he yelled at me.

"Look where you're running, oi!"

We were lying in a pile at the roadside. It looked kinda awkward, now in hindsight, but back then I didn't think about it. I simply brushed the dust off of my clothes and shrugged, chuckling. "Sorry, sorry..." Then I gave him a hand and helped him up, not that he needed it, but still. Cat gave me a look that was impossible for me to read. Cats...

As we were walking to the shore Nami explained what had happened since I left. I listened with half an ear as I already knew.

**Cat's PoV (Oh, I know you've missed it!)**

The sight welcoming us as we arrived at the cliff was, as anticipated, hilarious. Captain had fallen from the cliff and had landed head first. Sleeping on top of that. It even topped the scene from before, when Whitehead crashed into Greenhead. Made my day, that crash did. Note to self: make a camera pronto. But now we had to wake up captain to inform the rest of the present individuals of the situation. Thus I stepped forward and jabbed a claw in his forehead.

"Oww!"

Even though I was slightly thrown back at sudden reaction, results were results. With a slight sliver of blood flowing down his forehead he turned towards us, wide awake. "Oh, hi guys!"

The crew, me included, looked at him with half lidded eyes and our first mate asked him just what he was doing down here, asleep. Thus, Captain told us of the situation at hand. Whitehead sat down beside me and scratched my neck. It felt wonderful. I purred contentedly as I looked into my partner's face. She wore a dead-serious expression, but she still had a hint of a smirk on her lips. She was battle-eager all right. Well, that was to be expected, with all those death-glares she sent at that butler back then.

Captain had finished his story and Pinocchio's loyal followers were in a state of panic as they were planning their escape. Paying them no attention, Greenhead turned towards Captain and asked him just how he had ended up asleep on the shore like that.

"I don't know," he said. "I though I was up on the cliff." He tilted his head to the side in confusion, making a futile attempt to figure out why.

Whitehead shot me a glance. _You tell them._ I nodded, well understanding why she couldn't. "My guess is that you were hypnotised."

All faces but Whitehead's were now turned towards me with a questioning look. I continued, explaining. "Your description of the man that was speaking to that fake butler perfectly matches the oddball of a hypnotist who passed by us at the fence earlier, remember?"

Ginger nodded in agreement. "That's observant," Ginger commented. "I wonder why I didn't think of that."

Greenhead shot a curious glance at Whitehead. I couldn't even guess what his thoughts were. I could only hope that he wasn't onto us, but with Whitehead's damn carelessness, I guess that was a bit much to ask. All because of her damn impatience.

**Embla's PoV**

Zoro had been shooting me hard-to-read glances as we walked towards town to restock our supplies when we encountered a grim-faced Usopp. He didn't notice us until Piiman called him.

"Captain!"

Before they could notice, he wiped his tears and put on a smile on his face. "Oh, hi you guys!" He was a decent actor when it got right down to it, I'd grant him that.

Only then did he seem to notice the presence of a certain rubbery captain. "Ey, what? You- you're alive?"

Ruffy looked questioningly at Usopp. "Alive? I just woke up."

"He was sleeping," Piiman explained.

"Well," I argued. "A normal person would have died from that impact."

"Really?" Ruffy asked, clueless.

All present non-rubber individuals facepalmed. Or facepawed in Cat's case.

But then Trio remembered the matter at hand and exclaimed "Captain! We heard everything!" "We have to warn everyone!"

One thought appeared in my head about then. _Us real pirates really does stand a lot idly by up until the fight in this arc, huh?_

Usopp looked pained for a second, but swiftly hid it. Us Straw hats noticed him hiding his arm behind his back and said one of his most believable lies yet. He convinced his followers that it had all been a lie to badmouth Kuro.

The wannabe pirates, part relieved, part disappointed in their captain, bought the lie and left for their homes. Us Straw hats (And soon-to-be Straw hat) walked to the place where Jerkface and Utter weirdo had had their meeting to discuss things through.

"I didn't imagine you to be that kind of person." That was Zoro. He sounded vaguely impressed, which was a lot for him. "It was an honourable act, what you did. Sending your friends away like that to fight alone."

"But the fact remains. They're still going to attack, right?" This was Nami, always the one to think things through, even more so that I at times. While Ruffy remained silent, Usopp nodded. "They will. They'll be attacking the village at dawn." He gathered his courage and stood up. "And that's why it's my duty as a liar to stop them! I'll make sure that this story remains a lie!"

I saw my nakama's expressions turn into that of mild amazement. But he had more to say. He sat down again, showing the forearm in which he got shot. " Even if I get bullets in my arm, even if I get chased with pitchforks..."

We exchanged brief glances between the crew. I smirked, and I felt a few of the others do so too.

"Alright, but the treasures are mine, remember that." Now, who could this be if not Nami?

Usopp looked up at us with a puzzled expression. "Huh?"

"We'll give you a hand," Ruffy told him, he was in serious-mode.

Usopp looked at us with mixed emotions written over his face. There was mainly confusion, surprise and a slight hint of relief. "Help me? Why?"

"They're pretty strong," I spoke. "And you're way outnumbered."

"And you don't exactly look confident," Zoro added.

Pretty upset now, his pride hurt, as Zoro had kinda hit bullseye. A sore toe, that. "Me, not confident? I couldn't care less about ow many they are, I'm a brave warrior of the sea!"

"Well, your legs might beg to differ," Cat pointed out dryly. We all looked at his legs that were, indeed, shaking violently.

And he started to hit them to make them stop. "Damn it, damn it! Stop shaking!" He blushed in embarrassment, but it was soon replaced by anger. "Hey, of course I'm scared! Captain Kuro and his whole damn clan is my enemy here! I don't want your pity, get lost!"

"Does it look like we're laughing?" Zoro's sharp tone cut through Usopp's panicky gibbering. "We're helping you because we admire your courage."

Usopp still didn't look entirely convinced, but his doubts were blown away by Ruffy's next words.

"Pity isn't a reason to risk one's life."

Oh, yes. Now he was convinced all right. The next step was the battle plan.

**I'm deeply sorry for the delay! But, well... you know how the holidays are. I will spend a lot more time writing now that school has begun again, promise! **

**Oh, and yes, you probably noticed that I added some hints of future Zoro/Embla if you squint. Please, don't hate me for it! If you like it, I will continue to go with it and develop it, but if you dislike it I will drop it and settle for a deeper nakamaship. Now for the SBS!**

**From Mionic t:**

**okay, you get to start this time to, wait, i´m going to sneeze! aaa...aaa..aaatjooooooo time for sbs ooooooo! DARN IT! **

**J: Well, too late Mio, I already started it, muahaa! Oh, I'm so evil. **

**From Seraph:**

**Absolutely loved it! I noticed you've improved on your interaction with the Crew! That's definitely a step up ^^. You could improve on the conversations however. For example you could have them do gestures or expressions when they talk ^^. SBS: Will Embla-chan tell the Crew about her past? x3 **

**J: Ok, sure. I'll work on it, but descriptions have always been my weak spot... ^^'**

**Oh, and she will. In due time, she will. Not all that soon, though.**

**Another one from Mionic t:**

**hmmmmm, what where that feedback,(donít get ´s site),  
and it would be fun to se the pre-version, well, is just me, or is it not very obvius that tembla know everything before it happens...i´d get that ruffy or zoro is´nt noticing, but nami? she´s blowing her cower... **

**J: oh, you don't wanna see the earlier version, trust me. I, uh... as you might know I write the draft by hand and well... I have some trouble reading my own handwriting even, so there... In short, my handwriting is awful and I haven't written a comp version, but you're free to make an attempt. **

**And when you've read this chapter it should be kinda obvious that Zoro's onto her. **

**Oh, and the feedback I got, here it is:**

**This story's coming along nice so far. I really like Embla and the inventing cat idea. I don't think you should give her a devil fruit power though, because she doesn't really need it (already strong enough) and giving her more than she already has will( as you said) make her overpowered. If you are planning on adding extra islands, it is in my opinion (not something you have to follow) that you shouldn't pick up any extra Straw Hat members. I like the crew the way it is. I like that Luffy keeps it small and with tight bonds. He picks the most special people and only the ones he needs. If you really want to add more OC crew members though, feel free to, I would just prefer it if you kept it to just Embla and her cat. The overall grammar in the story is pretty good, though there is a problem with the dialogue which I shall now explain in hopes that you will fix it.**

This is what you wrote. ( "He was in the way." Ruffy explained)

Okay, so it majorly annoys me that you spell Luffy's name with an R, but there's technically nothing wrong with that, so I can't really complain. But like I said, the dialogue punctuation is wrong. See how you put a period at the end? Yeah, well that should be a comma.

Now look at this. ("Oi, you tomato nose!" He yelled challengingly.)The punctuation on this one is right (only periods need to be turned into commas) but the capitalisation is wrong. "He" should not be capitalised. Why? Well, unless you meant to say that he yelled "Oi, you tomato nose!", and then AFTER that yelled challengingly (two separate actions) then "he yelled challengingly" is part of the dialogue part of the sentence and not a separate one.

Another thing I would like to see with Embla is more personality. I don't feel connected to her at all, and I really can't feel her personality. She doesn't seem to express any real emotions I can relate with, therefore cutting off my ability to sympathise with her. Don't get me wrong, I do like her, I just wish you would put more feeling into her actions and her thoughts. I feel like you need to put more detail into describing what she's feeling, what she sees around her, and why she's doing and feeling what she is.

I would also like to see Embla get more involved in the action. I know that she's fought and all, but I would like it if you spiced up the story a bit with twists and changes. The problem with fanfictions is that I've already seen the Buggy Arc, and read it in other fanfictions like a billion other times, and after a while it gets boring. So, it would be nice if you made things original, broke some clichés, and made the story a bit of a more interesting and memorable read.

Alright, just one more thing, I promise. Like I was saying before, I really can't feel the characters very well in this story. I would like it if you added some scenes of your own with Embla. That would help me identify more of her character. Just putting small bits of her past, and things that she likes to do can really help a lot. Also, some scenes where Embla interacts with the other characters could be added as well, because I feel like Embla doesn't really know the other characters that well. I liked the card scene because it made me feel like Embla was finally getting to know Zoro better as a friend, and I would like to see some of that friendly bonding with other characters as well.

Contrary to what you seem to think, the fighting scenes are actually very well written. I like Embla's fighting style. It's cool. You're also doing a pretty good job keeping Embla away from Mary Sue territory, so I'll applaud you for that too.

Overall, you're doing a really nice job for your first fanfiction. I can only see you getting a lot better at writing this, so good luck, take my advice, and get better.

**I still am incredibly grateful for that, Cookie Krisp. You have my deepest thanks. **

**And finally, Colbub pointed out a few things that I'd like to make clear.**

"**Choppa is spelt as Chopper. Properly anyway. =="****"**

**Yes, I know. But again it all depends on what translation one's reading. In the Swedish translation his name is spelled Choppa, but I will probably use Chopper in the future.**

"**Note: when writing, don't use slang. It's best anyway, instead of saying "I loled" (since loled isn't technically a word) would be "I laughed." Though you might think it not be much of a difference, it makes reading smoother, and develops better writing habits. XD"**

**What you say is very true, but I said loled to empathise that she laughed real hard. I'll think about this in the future.**

"**She can go back and forth right? That means she can visit her brother anytime! I like her idea."**

**Oh, technically, yes. She can. But the rest of the crew still don't know and as they still hasn't got a proper ship, she can't go through a portal, and even less be gone for a while, unnoticed. Although she will visit her brother occasionally in the future, yes. The whole crew might even make a short visit to earth sometime. OwO**

**Now, this became one long Author's note/SBS. I hope I didn't bore you and I hope that I will manage to finish the next chapter sooner! /wave**


	10. Catfight! And turrets!

**Shorter chapter this time, but way quicker update! Mass fight will be rather crude with little detail. I hope it is satisfying anyway. I tried to write it as instructions that she told herself, sort of. And (most of) the movements she uses in the battle is taken directly from my aikido repertoire. I will explain them at the end of the chapter. The duel up next will be more detailed, that's for sure! And yes, I find metal relaxing, so STFU.**

**Disclaimer (list's getting long): I do not own One Piece, Race for the Galaxy, Warhammer, Discworld, Equilibrium's legendarily epic tune that is Mana or Portal. I only own Embla. And Cat, sort of.**

"How about… a turret?"

"A what?" Four questioning pairs of eyes on me.

"A turret."

We were currently on the southern slope. Rock walls covered both sides. If we were to stop them, this was our best chance. So now we were discussing tactics. But obviously turrets were something that was yet to be invented in this world, reading the blank expressions on my friends' faces. Cat was looking at me with half-lidded eyes. I sighed and explained.

"A turret is a sort of robot who automatically shoots at any enemy unit in sight."

The confusion faded from their faces and was replaced by different expressions depending on the persons. Ruffy got sparkle-eyes at the thought of a robot aiding us in battle, Usopp and Zoro seemed to rather like the idea but Nami seemed doubtful.

"That'd be handy, all right, if someone slips by," Zoro said with a slight nod.

"You sure? What if it shoots one of us instead? And where are we going to get one anyway?" Nami pointed out with a worried frown.

"You forget that we've got a genius inventor among us," I told her and nodded towards Cat, who smirked in slight satisfaction. She'd probably understood what I meant by _turret_ too. The smirk was probably mainly because I'd called her a genius, though.

"It would be useful, all right," Usopp said, poking the tip of his nose in consideration. "But can you really finish it on time?"

"Just who do you take me for?" Cat asked, slightly offended. "I'm no mere run-of-the-mill inventor."

"Yosh, then it's decided! Cat and Embla will make a turret!" Ruffy enthusiastically exclaimed, which decided the matter. Then the tactics for the battle itself. I stayed with the others for a while. Cat had already left for the boats to start building the turret, but I wanted to participate in the rest of the battle plans.

"So the plan is to cover the slope in oil and then take 'em down while they're slipping, and if someone somehow slips by, the turret will make short work of them. Not too bad, I'd say," I summarized as we'd brainstormed for a while. Usopp nodded in agreement. Ruffy warmed up his arms a bit, even if it was some time until sunrise.

"Well, that sounds simple enough."

"It all depends on how we fight. So, what can you do?" Usopp asked in a professional manner. He was a good strategist, that he was. Now I just had to find a witty word…

"Stretch."

_Ok, think fast._

"Cut."

_My turn. First thing that pops into my mind._

"Throw."

_That one was decent, I guess… Well, too late for regrets._

"Steal."

"…Hide…"

Four angry faces were turned demon-ish. "You're gonna fight too!"

I sighed. "Well, I should be off and help Cat carry the turret. She should be done by now," I said and walked off, silently imitating the turrets and chuckling to myself. Portal turrets in East Blue.

**Zoro's PoV**

I had to agree that the oil-plan was a good idea. Combined with that turt, or whatever, we'd have a rather easy time wiping them out. However, the sun was rising and there still was no sign of those two. But on the other hand, we hadn't seen a glimpse of those invaders either. We must have overlooked something.

"It's already morning, why haven't they come yet?" Ruffy wondered. Oi, did he seriously expect us to know?

"They might have overslept," I replied, but I doubted it. Suddenly I felt kind of grateful that Cat wasn't here, because if she was, I'd feel a sniggering and a quick comment upon my last line there. One learned to not leave such obvious openings when she was around. Just then I thought I heard something from afar. And from the look of it, so did Nami as she beat me to mentioning it.

"Am I imagining things, or do I hear screams from the north?"

Chaos ensued. A chaos that I'd soon get all too accustomed to. Usopp panicked and told us of the northern slope. Ruffy rushed off towards it as fast as he heard it. I had a certain gut feeling that we had both come to the same conclusion. The northern slope. That's where we had docked. Furthermore, that was where Embla and Cat was. They might be fighting alone against them at this very moment! I felt a strange twinge in my stomach as I could all too easily imagine it in my mind, even if I didn't intend to. But before I could run to their aid, Nami slipped on the oil. And just had to grab me for support. And just had to drag me with her. And then the witch uses me as a carpet to get off the oil. All for the sake of her 'beloved treasures'. Damn woman! I swear I'll kill her one day.

**Earlier, back with Embla**

It took longer to build the turret than estimated. There were some things still to be done when I arrived at the boats. True enough, it was only to fasten the three legs and to add the voice. She had waited until I arrived for that as I was the one with a memory for quotes. I had braided my hair while I waited. Braids didn't suit me, but I did for a reason.

The sun hadn't risen yet and would not for another twenty minutes. Thus I decided to go back to the southern slope the long route. That is, by the coastline. The nice scenery to the epic tune of Mana that was playing in my headphones was a really relaxing experience. However, the turret was heavier than I'd thought it was and it took me slightly longer than I had accounted for. The sun had already begun to rise as I arrived and the only one left at the slope was Zoro. He was desperately trying to get up the oiled slope with little success. His face was painted with utter frustration and rage. I could not resist to chuckle at the sight. But then I turned serious, this was not the time for amusements.

"Oi!" I called. Only now did he appear to notice me. He turned towards me in slight surprise and I could see a hint of relief in his eyes, but the blood thirst was definitely dominant. Directed at the navigator, no doubt.

"Ah, there you are. Took you long enough."

"Heh," I smirked, carrying the turret on my back. "This thing's heavier than it looks. But hey, it didn't cross your minds that I wanted to get up the slope too?"

He chuckled lightly. "Che. No, they thought that we should fight down in the snake pit."

I sighed, although slightly amused, and tied two throwing knives to each foot. "And have Ruffy stay up there and protect them, huh? No guts."

He smirked at my comment, but raised an eyebrow at what I was doing. "OI, what are you doing?"

Done tying the knives to my shoes, I lifted a foot and showed him. Two knives were tied to each foot just by the heel, point down, an inch longer than the soles, like long pegs. "Claws, to get up the darn slope." To make it clear I nodded towards Cat, who was currently walking up the slope, no problem. "Sorta like that, only she already has claws."

He nodded and was starting to say something, but Cat interrupted. "Oi, come on guys! We're in a hurry here, remember?"

I sighed. "I know, I know." Then I started to run up the hill. Or, I intended to, but Zoro suddenly thought it to be a good idea to use me as a support to get up, instead of using his swords. That resulted in slowing us down. The guy sure had a lot of respect for his swords, all right. One of the many reasons why I liked him. However, it resulted in the both of us having to sprint like hell. I had a distinct feeling that I could run faster if I tried, however, but I decided to save my energy for the fight ahead. Ruffy soon joined up with us by chance and by then I started to get the strong feeling that once again, I was the one keeping track of the directions. My sense of directions was actually really good as long as one didn't start to mix in a lot of confusing street names. Then I was as lost as Zoro.

We arrived right at the by Oda intended time to beat back the annoying morganéers. I must say that is was very satisfactory, even if I couldn't do much, my arms occupied as I was holding the turret. But it didn't matter in the least as the guys were enraged enough for all three of us.

"Nami, you witch! I'll teach you to step on people!"

"Usopp, you bastard! Couldn't you have told me what direction north is?"

"Well, that took you long enough," Nami complained.

"And just who stepped on me, if I might ask?" Zoro countered angrily.

I had a feeling that I ought to explain why I and cat were late though. "The construction took slightly longer that estimated," I said shortly, not wanting to drag upon it. Then I swiftly chose an appropriate spot for the turret and started to set it up, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't be needed, but it disappeared soon enough as I took a look upon the enemies numbers. They were about the double the amount I remembered.

Usopp was in awe. "Are you guys really that strong?"

"Yup," Ruffy replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No shit, Sherlock," I added as I was almost done activating the turret. It was a bit big for Cat; she couldn't reach.

The others went on with their bickering as I finally activated it. A robotic voice emanated from it. _"I see you…"_

"Ah, success," Cat said and snickered in satisfaction.

The others' faces were instantly turned towards me and the turret in surprise. But before they could ask about it, and before Ruffy got too excited about it, I simply waved them silent. "Save the questions for later, we have more important matters at hand. By the way, they seem to be up to something."

Somehow, probably because of the seriousness of the situation, they all managed to shift their attention back to the Black Cat crew. Yes, even Ruffy. I must say that I am still kinda amazed by that even today, and that was over half a year ago! Oh, what the wannabe cats were up to? Why, getting hypnotized, of course! And somehow, by a stroke of bad luck, the attention had been turned towards the turret the moment they were actually hypnotized. Which meant that Ruffy _did not_ get hypnotized. Which was bad. An army of berserk pirates, cannon-fodder, sure, but back then I had very little experience of real battle, and Ruffy was not berserk.

Not as planned.

Battle roars. They were coming at us at full speed. Nami and Usopp had already moved out of the way. Just as well, they had already done what they could for now. Cat was sitting by the turret. It was up to us, huh? Well, that had sorta been expected.

Shit. And I didn't have a rod. But hey, Nami had a rod, right? And she wasn't going to fight anyway, so why not?

"Oi, Nami! Lend me your rod!"

She looked a bit surprised at my demand, but she didn't deny me. "Huh? Sure," she said and threw it. I caught it just as the army of cat wannabes came into assault range. Mission: Annihilate. Rod in hands, I engaged my third of the enemies, although that was closer to a fourth or fifth as Ruffy and Zoro both took a larger chunk than their share. Not that I minded.

Ok, focus on the first one. Sideward swipe with sword. I dodged it and ski-ed him in the chin from underneath, knocking him out. Ad I engaged battle, everything around me seemed to slow down. Hadn't Nami said something about speed? Anyways, one came on from behind. Gedan in his crotch. Two came from the side. I swiped the rod low, sideways, aiming for their knees, toppling them. Swift thwack to the head, knocking them down. I saw a bunch slip by us, but that didn't bother me in the least. We had made the turret for a reason. As I drove my elbow into the throat of one attacker and the rod into the liver of another, I heard a satisfying _'ratatatatatatatatatt',_ followed by a cybernetic "Gotcha." Man, I love them turrets. That is, when I'm not on the receiving end, of course.

Sword swipe incoming from behind. Block, disrupt, ski. Low swipe, aiming for my legs. Jump. Ooh, two enemies in range, at opposite sides. How satisfactory. Split kick in air, hitting them both in the gut. That felt great. Oh, one left. From the side. This was why I had braided my hair earlier. Swift turn of head and the centrifugal force did the job. Man, having long hair sure is handy at times, even if it gets stuck everywhere and gets in the way all the time.

The world sped up again as the last underling laid defeated. I shot a glance backwards. Five in total had slipped by and laid in a bloody pile in the turret's shot line. Poor sods, they had been better off if they hadn't slipped by. Let's see… five out of… _'52, 53, 54…'_ many. I guess it wasn't that bad. Pretty satisfying for my first actual mass-fight. I turned to Nami and threw back the rod to its owner. From here on it would be a two-on-one at most, and for that, I reasoned, blades were more effective. Or chains. And I had a chain. A good chain.

"Oi," Zoro said, one eyebrow cocked, wearing an amused expression. "Numerous blades at hand and you still use a rod?" there was slight disbelief in his voice, but mainly mockery.

I shrugged and explained. "Different weapons are suited for different occasions. And I like rods. Not as much as tonfa, though, but I couldn't find any." Then two unconscious bodies in particular caught my attention and I snickered. "And don't say that I didn't use any blades." I lifted my foot and pointed at the heel. "I never removed the knives."

He let out a chuckle. "Wouldn't like to have been on the receiving end of that."

I snickered at that. The monster that he is, he probably wouldn't have been fazed in the least by such an attack. But on the other hand, I'd never do that to my nakama anyway.

Our brief chat were soon over, however, as Jango was calling the Nyaban brothers. "Come forth, Nyaban siblings!"

I twitched. Siblings? And indeed, the Nyaban had gotten an addition to the team in the shape of a woman. I took a moment to inspect her getup. In short, she looked sorta like a wannabe Catwoman. One look at her was all it took, she was the type I absolutely loathed, and I'd gotten pretty darn good at recognizing the signs. Don't judge a book by its cover they say, I say bah, humbug! A lot can be read from appearances if one knows what to look for. First off, her movement pattern. It told me more than I wanted to know about her character. The way people moves actually tells a lot about their personality. Then there was her smell. She was over twenty meters away and I could smell the perfume from here, even. And we were outdoors. I hate perfume, it makes me nauseous. Next up was her makeup. She had a lot of it. A _lot._ I'd rather not get into the details.

"Huh? We're gonna fight? Why-y? You know we can't fight, captain."

Gah, her voice! Ok, they had started their act, my third thoughts told me, but my first thought kept ranting about why she was so despicable. Ok, her voice. Screechy, buttery, eww. Her voice combined with her tone literally gave me the creeps. And the final thing, that I could think of at that moment, was her body. Ok, I'm gonna be ridiculously blunt about this. The gal had _curves._ Big jugs and skinny-as-hell waist. In short, hourglass body. I swiftly came to the conclusion that she had to be the reason of the drastic increase in crewmembers. As they were going on with their act I found myself wondering how she could run around, or even stand upright, without constant back pain. I so prefer flatness. Man, and this… this sorry excuse for a woman _dared_ disguise herself as a cat? She was defiling cat-dom! And judging by the intense killing intent I felt radiating from the direction of the turret, I wasn't the only one with this opinion.

They went on with their act with the audience of eight puzzled eyes and four very, very annoyed eyes.

"What's up with them?" Ruffy wondered.

"Are they really our opponents?" Zoro said in disbelief.

I growled. "Don't be fooled. They're faking it." Raised eyebrows. "Guard your swords, Zoro."

They charged, crying fake tears and all, panic written all over their faces.

I snarled. "The bitch's _mine."_

**Wait, did I just do that? Why, I do think I just did. I put a Portal Turret in the One Piece world.**

**Moves info:**

**Ski: a sort of stabbing move with a rod. It reminds a lot of the movement used when sheathing a sword, only you grab the back end and slide it forward in a stab. There are endless variations of this move.**

**Gedan: Very much like the ski, but a lot more like the sheathing of a sword as the rod is slid back. Mostly used to prepare a strike to the knee, but can also, as Embla did, be used to stab someone behind you in the crotch.**

**From Mionic t:**

**ITS TIME FOR SBS! ha! i´m best **

**J: Ah, damn, you! I was too late! You'll pay for that in school later, Mio, you will learn to fear the ninth graders!**

**(Note: Mio and I go to the same school, I am in the ninth grade and he's in the sixth grade)**

**And again from Mio:**

**"that i´m too decent to name"( one line after):  
"shitboot" is´nt that a bit odd **

**J: Hmm, you're **_**right.**_** Hmm, wait a moment… *Grabs Embla and drags her here***

**E: What?**

**J: *shows letter***

**E: Oh, isn't that obvious? That's two entirely different matters.**

**J: Care to explain? To enlighten my readers, you know…**

**E: Insults are insults and I do not hesitate to use them. But I'd rather refrain to use the word in other contexts. There, happy now?**

**J: Happy now. **

**E: Good, 'cos I got a bimbo to bash! *runs off in sped-up mode***

**J: And off she goes. And finally, I have gotten no negative reactions whatsoever regarding the Zoro/Embla relation so I'll stick to that, as you've probably noticed. And thanks for your awesome support. It makes me a happy wee lass! And nay, I am not Scottish, duh.**

**Until next time! /wave**


	11. Losing it

**Hello, missed me? Well, I had a minor writers block, but it's gone. To make up for it, here's my longest chapter yet. Also, it will take some time until the next chapter, I'm afraid. I want to rewrite the earlier chapters to improve a lot of stuff. I want to add more thoughts, emotions and hints of her past.**

**Disclaimer: Dudes, I still don't own OP, Discworld, RFTG, Portal or WH 40k. **

I drew my daggers. A voice in the back of my head told me not to get too fired up, as it would wreck my concentration. And my style relied upon concentration. In fact, there was one other reason, but that was something I'd rather not think about. However, my opponent's intense perfume made concentrating difficult.

As we exchanged blows I shot a few glances around me. No sight of _Him_, seems like they all survived. _He_ was never late.

Zoro took on the two brothers alone as he said that he could handle the both of them. Ruffy waited for Kuro. I guess some things won't change. However, I got to pay for focusing my attention elsewhere, in pain. I got thrown back a bit at the force of the claws, slashing my chest. Damn that hurt. It seemed that most of the bandages I used to bind my chest were ripped. I always bound my chest for maximum movement ability.

"What was that, tomboy? Getting distracted?" she teased.

I snorted. "Don't overestimate yourself, you fake." The pain was intense and it was difficult to keep my focus. I forced it down; this was nothing I told myself. Dark warnings in my mind resurfaced. I shook my head and laughed it off. I would not let myself reach that point again. I pounced at her, daggers in both hands. She managed to block, but that left her unguarded against the kick that followed. And I still hadn't removed the knives. I could tell that she recoiled a lot more than I did. She seemed very upset as she hissed at me. "_You_..." The way she clutched her stomach showed that even if she was more accustomed to battle that I was, she most certainly wasn't used to getting hurt. And thus she was beginning to lose her temper. I was tempted to smirk, but I could not allow myself to get overconfident.

She lunged towards me, but I was faster. I struck with the left arm, feigning a slash. She bought it and blocked, but I simply slid by and hooked on to her neck with the dull side of the blade and pulled, throwing her to the side. She rolled some distance, but seemed to recover faster this time.

"Seems like I underestimated you, tomboy girl."

I grimaced. "I warned you not to." But this was getting difficult. My breathing was heavy from overexertion and the wound in my chest was throbbing. I had to wrap this up quickly. The throwing knives, I decided. They would have to suffice. But my plans were slightly interrupted as not only my opponent, but the whole Black Cat crew (those who were still conscious) froze. Kuro had made his entrance. I was both annoyed that I annoyed that I didn't get to finish it immediately and relieved of this breathing pause.

"I- I can explain..." Jango stuttered.

The whole enemy crew shivered as if it was twenty degrees minus. Celsius. Never got the hang of Fahrenheit.

"The sun rose a long time ago. Here am I standing, wondering why nothing has happened yet," annoying-butler-who-wields-way-_way_-too-many-swords said coolly, malice steadily emanating from his person. I mean, seriously, the guy wields _ten_ swords at once. And I thought Zoro was a bit extreme.

Kuro's rage exploded in one angry yell. "Just what the _hell_ are you doing?"

I scanned the slope to analyse the situation properly this time. Ruffy was leaning at the wall, observing the battle, but he looked more alert than earlier now that his opponent had made his entrance. Nami and Usopp were simply staying out of the way. Zoro had, even though I had told him to guard them, let two of his swords get stolen. They were on the ground some distance away. Cat was now sitting beside Nami and Usopp. I couldn't see the turret.

As the scene unfolded, one that I had little interest in( although I did somewhat wonder what the bimbo's lines would be), I sidled a bit closer to Zoro. "Stupid. I told you to guard them," I scolded quietly.

A vein popped up on his forehead. "Shut up," he said in annoyance.

I sighed and cut of the straps tying my sword to my back and handed it to him. "Here."

He cocked an eyebrow in slight surprise.

"It's a bit long, but it's better than nothing," I urged, but he still hesitated.

"Won't you need it?"

I shook my head. "Nay, I'm good."

He grinned in response and grabbed the hilt, but I didn't let go of the sheath. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. I smirked in response. "You take the blade, I take the sheath." His smirk mirrored mine as he pulled the blade out from its sheath. He then took a moment to inspect the blade. His gaze contained slight surprise, but it lasted but briefly.

Focus was once again upon the Black cat elites and their ex-captain. Nyaban, all three, were currently leaping at Kuro in rage, hissing. But all they slashed was an empty bag. When he appeared behind them he had already drawn his blades. He sure was fast! But… not as fast as I remembered…

"Who did you say was dead?" Ooh, malice. Creepy. The Nyabans quickly turned around, terror growing, but rage still dominant. But terror overtook entirely as he disappeared once again. Wait, disappeared? No, he had not. Not entirely, I could still see him. Strange, I thought he was faster than that.

He stepped behind them and wrapped his arms around the boys, the bimbo between them. It was a gesture that normally would be seen as affectionate, but during the circumstances, it was threatening. As hell.

"Actually, I do feel a bit rusty."

The fact that I could see his movements bothered me. His 'Catfoot' was supposed to be at about the speed of 'Soru', so how?

Nami's voice echoed in my mind. _'And you! What's with that speed?'_

I blinked. Really? Then I remembered how everything had seemed to slow down while I was fighting all of those goons. Maybe, maybe I had gotten fast. But then I frowned. If that was the case, then how come I didn't enter my sped-up mode while fighting the bimbo? I had just thought the thought as the answer appeared in my head, clear as day. Stamina. Well, good thing I'd gotten a breather, then.

As I had mentally straightened that issue out, Jango was done telling everyone about the 'Catfoot', and it was Kuro's (I've gotten tired of making up clever insults to call him by) turn to speak, as he was poking Butchi and Sham in their necks with the tips of his thumb-blades. The chick was probably in the worst position as she had both the blades against her throat. Hey, wait. She didn't look scared in the least. That bimbo was actually appearing to enjoy it! She even made a quiet purring noise. _Psycho!_

Hmm, now that I think about it, those blades of his kinda looks like overgrown thumbnails. Heh, funny.

"During these three years, I've gotten a bit softer…" he spoke. I could sense rage emanating from our captain, but he knew as well as I that it was not his turn to act.

"I'll give you five minutes," Kuro went on. "Clean this up until then or I'll slaughter you all!"

I pulled out my chain thoughtfully and tied it to my sheath, making a makeshift flail. But then realization hit me. The enemy had passed by the line-of-sight of the turret several times already, but not a single shot had gone off. I glanced at the turret. Oi, when did it get toppled? Annoyance.

But then my attention was called back to the battlefield as Jango announced that they just had to kill me and Zoro to get past, which proved how forgetful they were. Didn't they remember that Ruffy took out about one half of their forces moments ago? Ah, whatever. With the bimbo rushing at me I had other things to think about. I smirked at her. "Thanks for the breather."

And with that, I sped up again, and snickered at her shocked expression. As the sheath was too long to swing around while on the ground I leaped up as high as I could and spun the flail at the highest speed I could muster. He eyes widened as she realized what I was going to do and she tried to run, which was pretty futile. I was way too fast for her. It was as if someone had used Noro Noro beam on everything around me. I took aim and let go, sending the flail flying. It hit her square in the stomach, but I could not allow myself to slow down, not yet, even if she was downed. The moment I hit the ground I spun around and made for Zoro's swords. He could probably handle those two with only two swords easily, but I knew that he'd prefer his own swords. But the world was speeding up already, as I once again was reminded of my bad stamina. As I reached the swords there was a large crash as my opponent crashed into one of the cliff walls where a minor crater was formed. Zoro made short work of the other two. As Butchi somehow managed to stay conscious and crawled towards Jango to get hypnotized into berserk mode, I walked to Zoro and returned his swords in exchange of mine.

"My job's done. I'mma rest," I told him. He noticed that I was breathing heavily from the exercise and simply nodded. I walked over to retrieve the sheath and my dear chain. When I looked at my opponent I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. There was lots of broken ribs and internal bleeding for a start. I frowned at the sight. I knew I'd gotten stronger, but this was more that I'd imagined. I found that slightly worrisome. I shook my head and sheathed the sword. Fatty was berserk and was about to charge Zoro, and I almost thought that all that was left was for Ruffy to beat Kuro, but then I remembered a few scenes that I'd almost forgotten. Just in time for the first one of them to start.

"Krahadol!"

Kaya had appeared. Large chock among the still conscious members of the black cats, except from Butchi, as he was berserk. I watched the scene unfold with mild interest as I sat down by the wall, taking a well-earned rest. I now decided that I _had_ to increase my stamina if I were to be able to keep up with the others.

"Kaya-sama, what brings you down here?" Crappy butler had once again slipped into his darned act.

"Merry told me everything!"

And so, his cover was blown, and thus, finally, his mask fell. "Ah, he did, did he? And here I thought I had killed him properly."

Kaya's eyes widened in shock. This was definitely not the man she knew. But she seemed to gather herself rather quickly and turned to Usopp. "I'm sorry, Usopp-san. You probably can't forgive me, but I just couldn't believe that Krahadol would be a pirate…" He voice was quite shaky, but I had to say that her mind was stronger that I'd given her credit for.

Usopp snapped. "Never mind that! These guys are after your life! Why are you here, didn't I tell you to run?" he yelled, both upset and worried.

Kaya swiftly countered. "And what are _you_ doing? Why do you risk your life to protect me even after all I did to you?"

Usopp begun to counter, using his usual rant, but no one really listened to him as Kaya turned to Krahadol. "Krahadol, if you want my fortune, go ahead and take it, but leave this village alone!"

I smiled. She had a strong mind, all right, and she deserved praise for that. But my smile was swiftly shattered by Kuro, that jerkface. "Indeed, I do want your fortune, but that's not all. I want to live a peaceful life." I grimaced in disgust, and I could bet my foot that Ruffy did too. Zoro probably did too, in his mind. Peaceful life? Some kind of pirate he was. I spat in disgust. I'd had enough of 'peaceful life', thank you very much. He somehow managed not to notice and went on with his monologue. Annoying bastard.

"For three years I've worked to gain the trust of the villagers. Not before I've gained both peace and money will my plan be complete. Both that the pirates attack the village and that you die and leave a will is absolutely necessary for my plan to work."

Ooh, intense killing intent emanating from four individuals. Nami was mainly frightened and I'm still not sure if Usopp is even capable if emitting killing intent. Kaya was in a state of shock, until she raised a flintlock gun. Man, I love that model. Unfortunately, my aim with any ranged weapon other than throwing knives is downright horrible. I remember my brother telling me that I couldn't hit a barn from the _inside._

"Leave. This. Village."

Kuro was unfazed by this threat. "My, you've become a strong woman in these three years." He took a step towards Kaya and spread out his arms, temporarily taking on the butler-face. "Remember? We've been through a lot during these three years. We've lived together for a long time, even before your parents died. We went on sailing trips together, we've gone shopping, I watched over you when you had fever."

Kaya started to waver as she remembered. Tears welled up from her eyes. About now I figured that this guy relied way too much upon his brain, and that it resulted in dulled senses. Otherwise he'd at least reacted to the enormous amount of killing intent emanating from Ruffy, Zoro and myself. The conscious parts of the Black Cats were sensing it and were quivering in their boots. Man, isn't that guy supposed to be observant? In any case, Mr. Evil Mastermind went on. "We've laughed and we've cried together. I've served you all this time. I've followed the wishes of a naïve noble girl. I've endured…" Short pause for dramatic effect. Ooh, drama. "… just so that I'd be able to kill you, on this very day!"

Poor girl. The happy illusions of three whole years, crushed within minutes. Usopp, on the other hand, was boiling in rage. But he didn't get to speak. Yet.

"I, who once called myself Captain Kuro, have lowered my head to a little kid." Oh, man. The guy just didn't know when to stop, did he? There is a limit of how much evil one can spit out in one monologue. Or at least it should be. But that didn't stop him. Why should it? "I followed your every wish. Do you understand what humiliation that has been?"

That last line was too much for Usopp. His rage exploded. Fist clenched, he lunged furiously at Kuro, intending to smash his face in, but Kuro was much too fast for him.

"Usopp, that reminds me. You punched me quite hard yesterday. You certainly didn't hold back…" Kuro's ego-speech was _finally_ interrupted by an outstretched fist that sent him flying several yards. Ah, mass-jawdrop. There's always an audience. "What the? How could he punch Kuro from back there?" There were numerous exclamations such as these.

"If you dislike punches that much, it's time that you receive a few hundred more," Ruffy told him intimidatingly as his arm snapped back. Drama, drama. Dramatic pause with lots of mumbling among the audience. Suspense and cracking knuckles. The majority of the voices that make up my mental council said 'get on with it!'

OK, so about now, vegetable trio appeared out of nowhere with kitchenware in their hands and started to bash the now downed Kuro's head. It had enormously little effect, but they did not notice that yet. They soon calmed down and yelled at their captain, upset.

"I knew it! Captain's fighting for us!"

"Why didn't you tell us? Instead you go and tell black lies-"

"He means white lies!"

Usopp didn't even take the time to be surprised. "White or black, it doesn't matter! Why are you here? Run, dammit! Run for your lives!"

The kids started to protest, but where soon cut short by Kuro who rose up, scaring the veggies shitless. But he just walked past them and kicked Usopp out of the way. His target of attention at this moment was now Ruffy. "That actually huts. You're using strange methods I must say. If I'm not wrong you're one of those who've gained the powers of the devil's fruit."

Ruffy grinned as he confirmed this. "That's right; I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi. I'm a rubberman!"

Various exclamations of surprise was heard from the onlookers. Kuro's face got dark as he issued the orders. "Jango, I'll take care of the kid, I leave kaya to you. Make sure she writes her will, then kill her." Short pause. "And those ants…" he nodded towards the vegetables, "are a bit disturbing."

Jango nodded and started to walk, but Zoro held out his blade and blocked the path. "Sorry, but you can't pass."

Jango was unfazed. "Butchi!" And thus, Zoro got occupied fighting a buffed up Butchi, who entered the fight with his trademark dropkick. Frikkin' whole ground cracked. I rose up, intending to continue where Zoro left off, but then I saw something that made me freeze. Butchi had pressed Zoro against a wall, and suddenly, I was back on earth, only eight years old, in a dark alley with my only friend I ever had.

_I was paralyzed by fear. The man held a knife to my friend's throat. My legs were shaking and I could hardly breathe. I could see dark cloth flutter at the edge of my vision. All I could hear was my friend's voice whispering, terrified._

'_Help me…'_

My breathing quickened. It didn't matter that Zoro could cut him up like it was nothing. I t didn't matter that I let an enemy pass. A friend of mine was threatened. I could feel my sight blacken, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cat lay her ears flat back and hiss, a rare sight. Then I saw something else at the very edge of my vision. Black cloth.

I barely had time to utter two words before I lost it.

"Oh, shit!"

**Hah, cliffhanger right before a short break. Oh, I'm so evil! Now for the SBS:**

**Mionic t: about the first chapter, what did yuffie do in the open hurt like that? **

**J: Ah, that is still secret! Rest assured, it will be revealed in due time!**

**Seraph: I loved the humor in this one XD. The battle was great, I loved Embla's battle tecnhnique and the descriptions of the moves but it would help if you could describe them during the battle so that the readers could catch up.**

Portal and W40K References are awesome xP SBS: Dragging Embla to the SBS made me laugh, ahah XD, are you planning on doing that more often? 

**J: OK, sure. I'll think about that. And I might. It depends on the kind of questions I get.**

**Mionic t: you can judge someone by having too much make up, perfume, the kind of clothes pauli hates, and movement pattern, but judge someone for having curves isn't fair as they can't decide that on their own, i mean, name one girl in op that don´t have curves, even Arvida got her curves later on... **

**J: Ah, yes. Thanks for pointing this out. I intended to write this, but I didn't get a good moment to, but she got her just through plastic operation. Embla noticed this and that's what ticked her off.**

**Seraph: I really loved the chapter! I've noticed you've improved on your conversations too, thats Great! I think the ZoroXEmbla thing is a Good idea by the way, it adds more depth into the story ^_^ SBS: Why does Embla despise Krahadol? **

**J: Any reason not to? He's a jerk, through and through. I think that I explained that pretty well in this chapter. **

**That's all from the SBS this time. I'd be happy to receive questions from other folks than Mio an' Seraph. Don't get me wrong now, guys. I really like your questions, but I rarely get any from other sources, which I find rather sad.**

**Well, until next time! /wave**


	12. The many meanings of ship

**Hiya guys! I was a tad busy this weekend and got behind schedule, but hey, I'm only human! I know I haven't updated all the chapters I intended to, but I felt that I left enough hints that this chapter would not be too odd. Soo, I hope that you have all read at least one book in the Discworld series, 'cause if you haven't, you'll have to wait until I reveal who that guy who speaks in capital letters is, if you can't figure it out anyway, that is. Oh, and I do hope that I wrote him In character... ^^' He's kinda tricky. **

**Ah, and I still don't own OP, RFTG, Portal, Discworld, Lore or WH 40k. Seriously...**

Next thing I remembered was me, holding a bloody sword, a cut-up Butchi behind me. That there was a lot of blood would be an understatement. The world had lost its colour and the shadows were edged by purple. The world was completely frozen, which meant that _He_ was here. I forced back a tear. It was nice to see him, sure, but that he was here could only mean-

**WELL DONE.**

...Say again? "What do you mean 'Well done'?"

**NONE DIED THIS TIME.**

The voice had a tone that would be best described as a granite slab that was being dropped at a stone floor, and it would have sent chills down most people's spines, even grown men. But to me, it was nothing out of the ordinary. I knew that he was unable to lie, otherwise I'd have a hard time believing him. But because it was he who spoke, the relief of the words he had spoken rushed over me like the light of dawn flowing through the land. I slowly turned around, and indeed, there were no blue shimmers to be seen, the sight of a soul leaving its body to pass on. I smiled weakly, at least a bit glad that I had managed to hold it back. Then I turned to the one who had spoken to me with a slight smirk on my face. "Then why are _you_ here?"

**WELL, JUST FELT LIKE STOPPING BY. ANY NEW RULES THAT KEEPS ME FROM VISITING MY DISCIPLE?**

I cocked an eyebrow in slight annoyance and tore of a bit of bandage that I always had to bind my breasts, for maximised movement ability, and used it to wipe my sword clean of blood to clear my head. "Well, no. But your 'stopping by' frightened the hell out of me! Can't you pick your timing better?"

**SORRY.**

"It's OK," I said and shrugged slightly, the smirk already having dropped from my face. I had let _it_ take control. Again.

**WELL, IT'S TIME FOR ME TO LEAVE.**He looked apologetic. I think, it was hard to read him.

I smiled at him. "I understand. Busy line of work."

**IT IS,** he agreed.** UNTIL NEXT TIME.**

The shadows returned to normal and the world unfroze. He was gone.

"The hell you did that for? Now you let him past!" Zoro yelled at me furiously. I couldn't do much but grunt and sheath my sword. In all honesty, I couldn't say anything to my defence. Usopp's sudden cry saved me.

"Usopp pirate clan!" Vegetables looked up, and started to say that they were refusing to run, that they would stay and fight. Foolish children. Well, the Gods bless Usopp's rhetoric. "Protect Kaya!"

There was a short pause filled with surprise from the veggies. "It's the most important mission in the history of the Usopp pirates! You can't back out, Captains orders!"

Veggies grinned and happily obeyed and they made off to the forest as fast as they could. I threw a knife at Jango to stop him from pursuing them, but he managed to dodge, which in turn left him completely open for Usopp's pachinko shot. It didn't stop him, but it did slow him down.

"Useless." Oh, no. Kuro-time again. "I know exactly how weak Kaya is, they won't be able to escape Jango. If you wish to help them, go ahead. If you can get past me, that is."

Thus I saw my chance to make up for messing up earlier. "Sounds simple enough," I commented, mostly to myself. But then we heard a loud rumble, one that almost made my stomach turn. It was the sound of a lot of trees that were falling.

Usopp's eyes widened. "What was that?"

Kuro answered this. "It's probably Jango going berserk. You could check yourself to be sure, but it's probably too late already."

I thoughtfully strapped my sword back to my back as Zoro said "So, we're in a hurry, then." It was not a question.

Kuro gave us a look that clearly indicated that he saw us as nothing more than mere bugs. Boy, was he underestimating us! Just you wait a few months, you fake. Well, we weren't wanted yet, and we were hella young too, so I can't say that I'm surprised.

"I do think that you have other problems."

Before I could stop it, a snicker and a "Hardly" escaped my lips, but once again, I spoke to a wall.

"Why you..." Usopp hissed. "You lived with Kaya for three years! Don't you have any emotions at all?"

Kuro almost snorted. "The answer is no. Kaya is just another piece in my great plan. But I have to say that I am a bit grateful that she dies."

I snarled in disgust and listened to my friends' disapproving comments before I spoke. "Ruffy, I'll take Usopp and hunt the hypno. Fix an opening, will ya?"

As Ruffy nodded approvingly I lifted Usopp and swung him over my shoulder, and started to do what I did the best. Run.

**Cat's PoV**

I was still a bit shaky after _that_ happened. It had been a long time since I saw that face, and I prayed that I'd never see it again. Still do. I'd have to have a serious talk with Whitehead about it later. For now, I walked over to Greenhead and prodded his foot to call upon his attention.

"What?" he grunted as his gaze turned to me.

"This battle will take some space. I'd advice you to back down a bit," I told him calmly. He nodded in understanding; he had already done his job, ad we walked away a bit and sat down on the grass. It had been an interesting battle, even if the boss was yet to be beaten. Whitehead was a better fighter than I had given her credit for. That female never ceased to surprise her.

Then I noticed something. A sword cut ran down his side. Shallow, but a cut nevertheless.

"Did she cut you?" I had to ask, even if I already knew the answer. He simply grunted, probably a bit ashamed to admit it.

"No."

I blinked, bewildered. Then how had he got that cut?

"She didn't," he repeated. Well, it didn't exactly lessen my confusion, so I waited for him to go on. "That wasn't Embla."

**Embla's PoV**

I had taken the mission of carrying Usopp through the forest mostly to keep my mind on something other than what had happened earlier, which was kinda difficult as the blood stains on my vest constantly reminded me of it.

We had swiftly found Jango and downed him, and now I sat by the trunk of a tree, looking out over the felled trees, resting and thinking. Usopp was talking to Kaya and the veggies, asking them to keep quiet about all this, but I barely heard them.

'Y_ou lost it,'_ a voice in my head told me. _'And you cut Zoro.'_

_'Shut up,'_I told it sharply, but I knew it was right.

_'If you stay with them, it might happen again. And you know what happened back when-'_

_'SHUT UP!'_ I almost yelled out loud. I really, really didn't want to think about that. Not now, not ever. _'Listen, I won't let it take control again, OK? Besides, Ruffy would never let me leave anyway, and you know that.'_

The voice now stayed quiet, but part of me could not help but feel that it had a point. Fortunately for me, Usopp snapped me out of my depression spiral. "Oi, Embla. Let's get back to the others."

We got our wounds treated by Kaya's private doctors and they insisted that we'd stay for a few days to make sure that we recovered. We really wanted to set sail as soon as possible, not wanting to cause any trouble, but they insisted. Also, Kaya and Merry seemed to have a surprise for us, not too much of a surprise for me an' Cat though.

At this moment we were at the restaurant and had just finished our meal. A minor tower of plates were stacked beside Ruffy and a smaller pile were beside me, consisting of considerably smaller plates. Yes, I like pastries, so what?

Ruffy was digging his hand into his throat, tears running down one eye. Zoro and I were occasionally giving him uninterested glances as we were occupied playing, guess what, Race for the Galaxy. I should probably introduce a few other games soon. Soon Ruffy exhaled, relieved, as he finally got out the fishbone that had got stuck in his throat. It was rather large, and spiky.

"Stupid, you gotta make sure that they don't get stuck," Zoro remarked dryly, before adding, to me "Develop, Consume/Trade."

I nodded, chewing on a toothpick. "Uh, huh. Settle, Produce."

"You know," Nami pointed out "When you eat fish, you normally leave out the stuff that looks like this." She held up her leftovers to make her point.

Well, to be honest, even I had eaten the bones. "Why? The bones are crunchy."

Then she turned her attention to us. "Do you two ever do anything but play that game? How do you play it, anyway?"

At that last line I simply looked at her as if she were from another planet, (which, technically, she was. Or rather, I was.) mostly for the fun of it. I think she was about to nag at me for looking at her like that, but as Kaya entered the restaurant, focus turned to her.

"Ah, so this is where you are!" she exclaimed, smiling like the sun herself.

"Ah, the Ojou-sama!" Ruffy exclaimed in reply. Why he didn't just call her Kaya, I'll never know.

Nami seemed a bit concerned about her, however. "Should you really be up and walking about?"

In the background, I and Zoro were making our moves. Every game was getting more challenging, but I really wished that more would join in. The more the merrier. I knew that Ruffy probably never wound, seeing as I had tried to explain the rules to him the other day, but about halfway he declared that it was a 'mystery game'. Nami had shown little interest and Cat was too busy. This game was almost concluded.

"Oh, my sickness was mostly shock and grief from my parent's deaths," Kaya explained to Nami. I could relate, sort of. "Usopp has been cheering me up for so long now, so now I have to be strong." She smiled weakly, until her face cracked up into a bright, honest smile again. "But now, my friends, I have heard that you are in need of a ship!"

"Why, indeed we are," I agreed. "It's getting rather cramped on that boat."

Ruffy, practically sparkling with enthusiasm, happily exclaimed "Really? You have one for us?"

She simply smiled and led us to the shore, as soon as I and Zoro had finished our game, of course. On the shore, our new ship awaited. Merry (the butler) was proudly standing in front of the ship. The reactions from the crew differed slightly, but we were all amazed.

"Ho!"

"A caravel!"

"Wooow!"

"Ships - wooly things that eat grass and go baa. Not to be confused with the other kind."

"Shut up, Cat. You're ruining the mood."

Even despite Cat's unnecessary quote, even though I had to admit that it popped up in my mind too, it was a moment of rejoicing from all parties as Merry was telling us about the ship with a broad smile. "The model may be a bit old, but I designed it myself. Her name is the Going Merry go." Then he started to go through some design details and notes upon handling the ship that was lost upon most of us, so Nami ended up taking care of those details while the rest of us explored our new home. It was bigger than I had imagined, I had to say. First thing I checked was the size of the storage. It wasn't too large, so we'd have to store food in the boys' room too. The next thing I checked was the kitchen. I instantly liked it and came to the conclusion that we would be spending a lot of time here. The dinner table was pretty large and had space enough for a couple of more crew members. Then I checked the area around the fridge. It had some space for a few traps, but that would be Sanji's and Cat's job. Hopefully, Ruffy would not raid the fridge until the chef joined. Next I checked the girls' room. It looked pretty comfy, but it was a bit too spacious and decorated for my taste. Thus I checked the boys' room. It gave me a much more homey feeling. Hammocks hanged about to sleep in and a nice, comfy couch by the wall with a table in front of it. That settled it! I was gonna sleep down here.

Then I went out on deck. It was large and bright in the midday sun. It called a dreamy smile to my face. Then I decided to check out the crow's nest, but just as I had jumped into it, I heard a loud rumbling and the characteristic sound of Usopp screaming his face off. I turned my head towards the noise. Now _that's_ what I call a big-ass backpack! He was stopped my a boot and a sandal to his face. I watched the scene with an amused expression.

"Th- thanks..." Usopp squeezed out while crying anime tears in pain. Poor sod.

Ruffy and Zoro, seemingly oblivious to the pain they caused, replied with a casual "Sure."

Usopp soon recovered and prepared to leave in his little dinghy, not having realised that he was already with us. The others had got on the boat when he bid us farewell, or attempted to. He got pretty bewildered by Ruffy's "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're both pirates sailing the seas, we're bound to meet again sooner or later," he argued. I crossed my arms and faced him with a wide snicker. "Baaka~"

Zoro cocked an eyebrow at him and pointed to the deck and said with a slightly annoyed tone, as if he was speaking to a total idiot, "Just shut up and get aboard already so we can set sail today."

Usopp looked at us in disbelief. "What? What do you mean?"

Ruffy, leaning against the railing, gave him a blank look, stating the obvious. "You're already our nakama." It wasn't a threat, statement or offer. It was a fact.

Usopp's surprise soon changed into sheer glee as he stuttered "T- t- the captain better be me!"

All of us joined in in a "Hell no!"

**OK, guys. Sorry for the delay. I have had a lot of things in my schedule... well, here goes SBS.**

**From Mionic t: if "owl" in cp9 played that game with embla, what would the result be? **

**J: I suppose that you mean Race, huh? Well, it's Embla's thing, games. As eating for Ruffy, getting lost for Zoro, and handling alcohol for Nami. No one beats them when it comes to their special area. Or areas. One of those with Embla is games. No one beats Embla in games, an' that's final.**

**From Spycer and Aro the Evil Demon: love the story but, question: what exactly does Embla look like?**

**J: Ooh, I _knew_ that question would appear sooner or later! I have drawn a pic of her, and I will upload a picture of it. Link will be found on my profile page. An' not the green clad elf, you know what I mean. I just have to get the scanner workin'...**

**That's all for this time, next chapter will be up soon, as I have already written it. Just have to write it in Word too... Until next time! /wave**


	13. Nightmares, vegetables and flags

**Hiya! J eez back! With a dark beginning to the chapter, but it will brighten up. I hope that you understand what happened in that alley, really. You should be able to connect the dots now, I hope. Well, I will make it clear later on. And I bet some of you have looked forward to some Embla/Zoro fluffiness, eh? Fear not, for this chapter contains some. Nothing romantic yet, though. They're both really, _really_ slow on that front.**

**Ah! Normal disclaimers apply, the list's getting all too long to recite X3 And the second dream Embla has? That's my property. Actually, that's an actual dream I had once. Feel free to lol at what bizarre brain I have. I did.**

**Also, bishop stew is an actual dish, and adding red beets really have that effect. Seriously, it doesn't look like food. But, it tastes hella good.**

_Fear..._

_Guilt..._

_Overwhelming grief..._

_Dim light. I sat by a wall under a streetlight. _

_Blood._

_On my hands_

_Blood_

_All over me_

_Blood everywhere_

_Two corpses. One tall, the body of an adult man. One small, the body of a child._

_A child, about eight, the same age as me._

_My friend_

_Dead_

_Blue shimmers, knife on the ground, in front of me._

_Madness..._

_Fear..._

_Consuming guilt..._

_Grief..._

_Suffocating darkness..._

_And then, _

_a skeleton hand on my shoulder..._

I woke up with a start, practically drenched in sweat. That dream, it was familiar. All too familiar. But I hadn't had it in years. I sat up and looked down at my hands. They were shaking. I leaned my head on my knees, taking a few shaky breaths, trying to calm down. Normally, one would repeatedly tell oneself that it was just a dream, but why lie? It was no dream. The child's last words- my friend's last words were still echoing clearly in my head. _'Help me...'_

I raised my head to look at my sleeping comrades for reassurance, looking for the sense of comfort that having friends close by could bring. Ruffy was sleeping in the hammock to my left. He was snoring loudly. That felt reassuring for some reason. In the hammock below him slept Usopp, mumbling in his sleep. Cat was sleeping on the couch. But when I turned to my right to check on my green-headed friend, the hammock was empty. That's right, he was on guard duty. I took a shaky, deep breath and climbed up on deck. I wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight anyway, having been reminded of that incident. Besides, I had to talk to Zoro anyway.

The night sky was splattered with stars. It was entirely different from what I used to see at home, as the city lights blocked out most of the stars. I had seen it many times before, during my guard shifts, but right now, I certainly needed this view as it cheered me up a bit.

I quickly spotted Zoro. He was sitting by the mast, appearing to be asleep. He opened an eye as I sat down beside him, giving me a wondering look. "Couldn't sleep?"

There was something else in his voice... Concern perhaps? I sighed and turned my gaze to the sky. "Nightmare. I needed some company and the others are asleep."

He closed his eyes and the corner of his mouth twisted upward. "I see."

We didn't say anything for a while. It was a calm night and the chances of someone, anyone, attacking us were low, very low. We weren't wanted yet and we hadn't even fixed the flag yet, and no enemy pirates were in sight.

The moon was just short of full. I deeply inhaled the fresh night air. It was a warm night, the warmth of this place was something I had yet to get used to. I turned slightly towards Zoro. He might have had his eyes closed, but he didn't fool me; he was awake. "Zoro..."

"Hmm?" He stirred slightly, indicating that I had his attention.

"About what happened at the slope-"

"I don't want to hear about it," he cut me off.

I paused up, a bit put off. Well, it was understandable, true enough. "Still, I-"

"Like hell you did." I stared at him in bewilderment. What did he mean by that? He noticed my confusion and explained. "That wasn't you, anyway. So why should I blame you?"

I blinked and looked down on my right hand while leaning back, my eyes shadowed by my fringe. "What do you mean, it wasn't me?"

Then he did something I totally didn't expect him to. He reached out and parted my hair slightly, revealing the eye I usually hid under my fringe; an unusually affectionate action for the swordsman. "Eyes," he said, as if it explained everything. But I didn't get it until he explained what he meant. "Your eyes. Back then, they weren't yours. Also..." He poked the Ace of Spades mark I had below my left eye. "That wasn't a spade." He leaned back against the mast again and closed his eyes. "Anyone could tell that wasn't you."

My face slowly cracked up in a small smile as I let my fringe fall back to hide a faint blush. "I guess so..." I felt a bit brighter, but I had one more thing to ask him. "Zoro..."

"Yeah?"

"Could you do me a favour?"

Him mouth twitched upward in a smirk. "Depends. What kind of favour?"

"If... If I lose control again, knock me out."

He raised an eyebrow at first, seeming to consider this for a second, but he soon answered. "Ok, I'll do it."

I sighed in relief, the feeling of getting a weight lifted off of my chest embracing me. "Thank you." I didn't really see his reaction, as I leaned back against the mast, closing my eyes. "I really mean it, thank you..."

I think I fell asleep then, because I remember dreaming. It was a considerably nicer dream, sure. But, well...

_I was standing in a hot air balloon, together with a few people whose faces I didn't quite remember. We were on the way to the north pole on a treasure hunting expedition. The object we were searching for was a skull, made from a single, large emerald. Several other teams had attempted to find it before us, but they had all failed. _

_As we landed on the icy landscape we soon discovered a rather large crevice, with a sign beside it. It said 'We think this is the location', signed by all the teams preceding us. Just below it someone had added another sign, reading 'Seems we were wrong', also signed by the earlier teams. Still, we decided to check the place out. As we climbed down we soon encountered a rather large boulder, but it was kinda obvious that the path went on ahead, so we moved it. The path went on and led into a cellar, that was awfully warm for being on the north pole... It was really damn spacious too, like a labyrinth. Among the first things we encountered was a big, old, rusty mechanism of some sort, but we didn't pay it much attention. _

_Soon one of my companions got attacked by some odd girl, who looked just as if she had come straight out from some wilderness flick. He was soon rescued, though, by none other than a young Michael Jackson. _**(Author's note: I am no fan of MJ or his music. I have no idea why he appeared in my dream. Seriously, ask my weirdass brain about it, not me.) **_It soon turned out that these two were the leaders of two tribes that lived down in the cellar. One could tell which tribe they belonged to by the colour of their t-shirts, kinda like soccer teams. Red for MJ, Yellow for wilderness chick._

_Some time later I found myself running for my life through a long corridor, all the while the yellow team attempted to kill me in the most bizarre and idiotic ways imaginable, like holding out a hanging noose, expecting me to run into it, while the red team tried to help me, in equally bizarre ways, such as speeding past me on a skateboard, expecting me to hop on. _

_Then I ended up having to duel the wilderness lass with swords. After a long and difficult fight I managed to win, only to get attacked from behind by MJ, with a bloody huge claymore. I dodged and swiftly kicked his ass. After that they suddenly got all friendly and showed me to the treasury. I claimed the emerald skull and a few other shinies, but as I walked out of the treasury I was attacked by one angry tribe member from the yellow team. With a pencil. It was kinda freaky. I think wilderness-girl stopped him. _

_Then we were going to return home, and we went to the old, rusty mechanism from before, which proved to be some sort of hyper-advanced sci-fi elevator. Wit lazoorz!_

_As we got back up to the surface we encountered a perfectly square ice hole in which some metal object was floating. Yes, a floating, large metal object. Don't ask. I fished it up and it proved to be a really ugly relief of Meowth. (Again, don't ask) Just as I had fished it up, Meowth appeared from behind an iceberg, accompanied by, none other than James Bond. Yeeah, no idea why he was there. Meowth got really happy seeing the relief, spouting things such as 'Yaay! I'm famous!' _

_Pretty much right after that, we took the balloon back home._

I opened a tired eye to observe the commotion that had awoken me from the peculiar madness that was my dreams. The sun had risen high into the sky. Damn, I'd missed breakfast.

Everyone had gathered to observe just what Ruffy was showing us. His flag design. My eyes twitched at the sight. The manga does not do it justice. It looked terrible. Seriously. I had never before seen anyone suck at painting _that_ bad.

"Ouch." I could say nothing more. The others' reactions were similar.

"He... isn't all too good at painting, huh?"

"Way to go, Usopp. You just achieved the title 'King of Understatements'," Cat commented.

"I don't know... it might be abstract art..."

"A jolly roger is supposed to be a symbol of death, and well, it's frightening all right."

I repeated "Ouch."

Usopp sighed. "Ruffy, you can't draw, let me do it." And with that, he swiftly painted his own mark, which was answered by two fists and a headbutt. Yep, the headbutt was from me.

"Don't change the symbol!" we all said in unison. Shortly, Usopp had painted the flag properly and we were now painting the mark on the sail aswell. Or, well, I wasn't, I was raising the flag. I was hopeless at anything that had with art to do, but seriously, nothing compared to Ruffy. If there ever was a championship in the art of being absolutely horrible at painting, Ruffy would take the title, no questions asked.

Cat was in the crow's nest as I tied the flag in place. "You missed breakfast."

I snorted. "I know, my stomach told me so a long time ago. Why the hell didn't you wake me up?" And saved me from that wierdass dream a bit sooner I added in my head.

Cat gave me a look. "Believe me, we tried."

I shrugged and decided to take a swim. What was that? So what if the ship was moving, it was stamina training, which was something I really needed. Twenty laps around the merry. So I simply stripped on spot and jumped in. Yes, of course I still had my bandages on, gee. After a few laps Nami walked to the railing and asked me just what I was doing.

"Just some stamina training. BTW, I forgot to bring a towel, could you go fetch one?" I replied, without ever stopping.

She sighed, but she did go get one. As I got up after my 23:rd lap, I'd exceeded my intended quota, she threw it in my face. I had just dried my hair and put on my pants as Ruffy came running. "Guys, emergency! Panic! Crisis! War!"

Usopp came out from the boys' room below deck and Zoro, who had been taking a nap until now, opened one eye sleepily. Cat only turned an ear towards the sound source. "What's the matter, Ruffy?" Nami wondered.

"We've run out of meat!"

Cat sighed and asked him, very bluntly "You raided the fridge last night, didn't you?"

Ruffy got a slightly guilty look in his eyes as he admitted. "Well, I was hungry..."

He soon found himself in a crater in the wall, Nami standing some distance away in demon mode with a steaming fist. I just sighed at this typical scene, it already being an everyday occurrence, and offered to make lunch. But, Usopp had his protests.

"But yesterday you said that you couldn't cook."

"I said I couldn't cook meat, I did. I'm pretty decent at veggie food as my brother is a vegetarian, so we only ate veggie food at home." And with that I ventured into the kitchen, not bothered in the least that all I was currently wearing was black cargo pants and the bandages around my chest. I guess this world was starting to affect me in many ways. I made a rather simple dish, made out of wheat and different kind of roots. Among them were red beets, which made the stew completely red and freaky-looking. It wasn't supposed to look like that, but the thing with this dish, which was called bishop stew by the way, is that one takes what one have in the pantry, and we just so happened to have a lot of wheat and roots.

The crew's reaction to the dish differed greatly. Ruffy, as expected, ate with his usual gusto, and Zoro, after a moment of hesitation, decided to taste it. Cat snickered at Usopp and Nami who were eying the dish suspiciously, contemplating whether it was food or not. Nami's eyes were twitching as she observed her plate. Usopp was wondering, with a sceptical tone "Is this even edible?"

I frowned at him and dug in. "Don't be so stingy, or you'll go hungry." There was no threat in my voice, I merely stated the facts, but as Usopp had just joined the crew, he had yet to learn one of the most important rule of survival among the Strawhats; the rule to never, ever let your guard down during a meal, not even for a second. If you do, you will, as I said, go hungry. Nami had already learned this lesson and dug in before Ruffy could steal her meal and was positively surprised. "Oh! This is good!"

I smirked. Her outburst seemed to make Usopp a bit more positive towards my stew, but it was too late. His food was gone. "Oi, Ruffy! That was my food!"

"But you didn't want it," Ruffy argued, without either worry or regret.

I turned to Usopp with a snicker. "Told you. Take some good advice: never drop your guard at the dinner table. Ever."

After that I handed him another plate of stew, and this time, he guarded it closely.

We soon finished the meal and Ruffy was sighing contentedly. "Ahh, that was good! Even without meat, that was real good!"

Zoro sighed and shook his head. Then he gave me a sceptical look and said "I agree that it was good, but just what was up with that red colour?"

The others nodded in agreement and Cat chuckled. I simply grinned and opened my mouth to answer when we heard a yell and the sound of barrels breaking. I halted and instead of explaining I asked Ruffy "Did you and Usopp practice shootin' the cannon earlier?" I didn't get an answer from him as he rushed out to beat up whoever was attacking. So instead, I turned to Usopp. "Well?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?" He didn't wait for an answer, though, as he was a bit more concerned about Ruffy. "Nevermind, shouldn't we help him?"

"How many are there?" Zoro shot in.

"Only one," Cat answered.

"Then let him handle it," Zoro answered calmly, but as we listened to the fight Zoro stirred. He mumbled "Wait, I know that voice..."

At about the same time as Zoro went through the door we heard a loud crash and a 'so close...' that indicated Ruffy's victory.

Zoro's eyes widened in surprise. "Johnny!"

**Aand that's it for this time! I have gotten no SBS questions this time so there will be no SBS for this chapter, sorry. But well, I hope you liked the chapter and Reviews are always much appreciated! Until next time! /wave**


	14. Sneakiness pays off

**This chapter is a few days later than I intended to, I know, but I've had a lot of things on my mind. And that scene with Sanji was really hard to write… OwO'**

**I skipped directly to when Ruffy is arguing with Zeff over the broken roof, as I found the scenes where Josack and Johnny are introduced and where they encounter Fullbody not only boring to write, but definitely to read too. Those scenes leave so little space for Embla to act. I hope you understand.**

**Then the disclaimers. If I owned One Piece or any of the stories that I refer to in this fic then Ace wouldn't have died, Embla and Cat would actually participate in the original comic, Death would appear just about everywhere, GlaDOS would be the Sunny's database and Sho Minamimoto would be a Strawhat. Possibly. Maybe. Hum. Yeah, probably.**

**Cat's PoV**

It seemed that Whitehead had successfully dragged Pinocchio, Baldy and Glasses into her game, as all five were playing Race. Actually, they were six as Ginger had somehow been persuaded to join the fray. This led to Whitehead having to shuffle the deck quite frequently. Whitehead was, as expected, sweeping the floor with the new arrivals in the gaming world, but, probably due to the amount of time he had spent playing against her, so was Greenhead. The match was, in the end, between those two. But the outcome would, by all probabilities, be the usual.

I had brought my latest invention, upon which I was currently adding the last few details, and was working on it as I sat right beside Whitehead, mostly to listen to the conversation.

"He sure is taking his sweet time, Explore," Pinocchio comments.

"I bet he'll be forced to be scullion for a month or two. Settle," Greenhead said with a nonchalant tone.

"That idiot! He could have blamed it all on the marines! Develop," Ginger sighed in annoyance.

"He's too honest for that, Nami. Consume/trade," Whitehead reasoned with a sigh. I could not help but to smirk in agreement.

"Explore"

"Settle"

"Damn," Whitehead swore.

"Hey, I have an idea! What about we go eat there, and watch it all at the same time?" Pinocchio suggested eagerly.

"Good idea, but not before we finish the game. No chickening out," Whitehead told him with a snicker and reached for the deck to begin the explore phase.

**Zoro's PoV**

The outcome of the game had pretty much been decided the moment Embla had played 'Imperium planet buster', which annoyed me. I had long lost count on how many games I'd lost to her, but thankfully I had also soon learned not to dwell too much upon it. Well, right now I had other things to think about anyway, such as what food to order. We sat at a round table in the fish-looking restaurant apparently called Baratie that seemed peaceful at the moment, but as I observed the hall I immediately spotted the signs of a recent battle. Very recent. The most obvious sign was the large bloodstain on the floor. It had yet to dry up. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the menu, the fight didn't concern me, but I kept my guard up, just in case.

Or, I tried to keep my attention on the menu, but part of my mind kept returning to last night's event. It was frustrating, really. But I couldn't help but wonder about that 'not-Embla' that I had glimpsed that day on the slope. Obviously, it had caused her some kind of trauma in the past, apparently, or she wouldn't have nightmares about it. And for some reason, I really wanted to know about it. Oh, who was I kidding? Embla would tell them all about it when, and if, she felt like it. I sighed inwardly, since when had I let her occupy my mind that much? And I can't believe that I just thought that. I mentally dropped the subject and decided to order some beef dish and some sake.

**Embla's PoV**

For some reason, last night never really left my mind and it was bothering me a bit. I've always known that Zoro could be really understanding at times, especially at his nakama's moments of weakness, but for some reason, I just couldn't stop thinking about it, and that was rather annoying, to be frank. I had better things to think of, such as teasing Ruffy, for example. Yep, right as we had finished our meal he walked out from the kitchen and Nami greeted him immediately.

"Why, hello there, scullion!" she said teasingly and waved a hand.

Usopp snickered at Ruffy with his arms crossed. "I heard that you have to work here for a year."

"Can we change the flag?" Zoro joked with a smirk.

I looked sideways at Usopp and said, "One year you say? This restaurant is doomed…" This sent Cat into a giggling fit.

"Hey, what the hell? While I'm struggling, you guys are sitting out here enjoying yourselves? No fair!" Ruffy yelled out angrily.

"Your own fault. It was the marines who shot, you could have easily blamed it on them," Cat shot back as Ruffy plopped a booger in Zoro's glass.

Zoro, acting as if he didn't notice, just laughed as he picked up his glass and said, "Damn straight. But unfair as it might be you can DRINK YOUR OWN SNOT!" At that last part he shoved the contents down Ruffy's throat, which sent the rest of us into a mad laughing fit, which was interrupted by one event that I had tried to ineffectively steel myself against for quite some time.

"Oh, great ocean, I thank thee for this blessed encounter!"

Shit, Sanji. Control, Embla, control. Deep breaths, now. Easy.

He held out two roses towards me and Nami as he went on with his ranting. "Oh, my loved ones, go ahead, laugh at me."

Ohh, that's it. I can't take no more!

"I could become a pirate, or a devil for your sakes, just so that I could stay with y-"

"DIE!" His face met my fist as I delivered him a devastating uppercut that sent him flying across the room, creating quite a crater where he landed. A weak 'Mellorine~' emanated from the debris. The whole restaurant stared. Ack! I quickly snapped out of my rage. "Ara… I snapped! Sorry…"

"Oi," came the immediate reply from my nakama.

I sheepishly sat back down on my chair. "Didn't you hate it when people mistook you for a boy?" Cat pointed out with half-lidded eyes.

I was going to answer when a very familiar feeling overwhelmed me. So instead of answering immediately I just sat there with a blank expression for a few seconds before spazzing, and then answering, as if my spazz was completely normal, which it was. I had these unexplainable post-meal seizures quite often. They are best described as a sneeze, just not through the nose, or an overly violent shiver. Directly after that I simply answered Cat as if nothing happened.

"Damn straight I do, but I hate it even more when someone treats me differently because of my gender."

Zoro looked as if he had a deja vû moment.

"Oh, so that's why you sleep in the boys' cabin!" Nami figured, taking no notice of Zoro.

I smirked and nodded. "Part of the reason."

Sanji seemed completely forgotten, which Usopp pointed out. "Oi, what about that cook?"

"He'll be fine," I and Cat said in unison, in perfect sync as said cook rose up from the debris and was about to resume his swooning, but stopped as he spotted Ruffy, my dark aura at that moment might have helped turning his attention elsewhere, and dragged him back to the kitchen, which meant that my little outburst had made me and Nami miss out on fruit salad. Damn.

**Cat's PoV**

Hardly any time had passed since that iron-coated, annoying, bragging pile of muscle had left the Baratie and I had walked over to Whitehead and handed her my just completed, new invention. "I get the feeling that you are going to do something reckless, so I'm giving this weapon to you now."

She raised an eyebrow at me with a grin before she took it. "Hoo, you know me so well, Cat! So, what's this? And how do I use it?"

I snickered at her. Humans… "That's up to you to figure out."

A look of annoyance flashed briefly across her face before gratitude and mischievousness took over. "Thanks a lot! If Nami asks, I'm out exploring the Baratie. If anyone else asks, I'm taking a nap in the crow's nest."

Oh, so that was her plan. "Sneaky. Good luck!"

**Embla's PoV**

Somehow, I had managed to successfully sneak aboard without Nami noticing. I decided that the place that would offer the least chance of detection was, indeed, the crow's nest, and suspecting that it would take some time still before Nami decided to jack the Merry and head out, and minding that I had to stay hidden the whole time, I suddenly knew that I had a lot of boredom ahead of me. It was actually rather tempting to really take a nap, but I had to stay on guard, should she notice me. If she did, I was pretty much trapped like a rat and would have to figure out some other way to stay aboard the ship. So I decided to try and figure this cylinder out. You know, that thing cat gave me. It kinda looked like a sword hilt, a hint perhaps? I inspected it closely. There were no buttons whatsoever. Hardly any crevices between the metal pieces either. Man, was she good. The surface was nicely uneven, giving me an amazing grip. She had said it was a weapon, so there had to be some hidden secret to it, but the only hints I found was the dimly glowing, blue crystals that adorned both ends. It had to be some kind of power source, I decided.

After a good time of twisting, turning, pressing and pulling, without results, I sighed in defeat. I couldn't figure it out. As I looked around I saw the Baratie in the distance, which meant that I had been successful, for now. And lost track of time, but that was unimportant. I would have to stay hidden for a bit longer, but no longer than necessary.

…

Oh, boredom! Sweet boredom… not. Being bored is boring. At least I had my IPod and headphones, so I could at least listen to some music and laugh silently at the shuffle-function's randomness. Sometimes, it makes up such weird combinations…

'Crazy' by Dope rang out in my headphones and I could not stop myself from headbanging a bit, but I got dizzy quite quickly. Guys, headbanging is no good for your brain, don't do it too often. It robs you of precious brain cells.

Recovering from my self-induced headache I held the cylinder like a sword, childishly imagining it was one. That triggered something that almost made me drop it.

dzzon (Sound effect of a beamsword being drawn)

In the fraction of a second, an edge of dim, blue light appeared, forming a blade and a hilt guard on the cylinder. Ooh, beamsword, shiny. Suhweet. I quickly looked around, it seemed Nami hadn't heard me. I inspected the blade. It was shaped like a katana, just like I had imagined it. An idea sprung into my mind and I imagined it being a rod.

kchink, click

The blade now gone, the cylinder grew taller, all metal, and formed, indeed, a rod. I smirked, then maybe..? After I had experimented with it a bit I decided a name for this magnificent weapon. Sōzō-ryoku. Imagination. This really was the perfect weapon for me.

_Meanwhile, back at the Baratie_

"Oi, but where the hell did Embla go?"

"Oh, she said that she was going to take a nap in the crow's nest."

"But wait, that means that she-"

"Went ahead after the ship, yes. In a way."

_Now, back to Embla._

I had been thinking for a while, and decided that I'd tell them. About where I came from, everything. Just… not about _that_ incident, but everything else. Not right away, but real soon. Little did I know that I'd have to spill the beans a bit earlier than I thought.

I had been too occupied in my thoughts to have noticed that Nami had started to climb up to my hiding spot. Shit, shit, Embla, think! Quick, quick, think, dammit!

"EMBLA?"

_Shit. _Act natural!"

"Oh, hiya Nami! Came to return that book you borrowed the other day? I have the sequel, too. You can borrow it too, if you want."

"Oh, there's a sequel?" she grinned happily, for a moment forgetting what she was doing up here in the first place, but it lasted but briefly. "No, I mean WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

My eyes twitched a bit at that, she almost did _the voice!_ But I quickly recovered and smirked at her. Just as well to be honest. "This is my home, since when is it strange that I'm here?" I looked at the shifting emotions that streaked across her face until I continued. "The question is rather, why are _you_ jacking our captain's ship?"

The dominating emotions in her eyes right now were mostly insecurity and fear. "I- ah- err…"

I held up a hand with a genuine smile to stop her stuttering. "No need to tell me, I already know. Arlong."

Shock crossed her face. "How did you know? And how did you know that I was gonna jack the ship, anyway?"

My turn to be pressed against the wall. Should I tell? I should tell, but would she believe me?

"Spill the beans already! It's not the first time you have seemed to know the future!" she yelled in my face.

I sighed in defeat. OK, I'd tell her, even if I had planned to tell them all at once. "Fine, fine. I give, but it's a pretty unbelievable story." I sat down and motioned for her to do the same. "Sit down, it's a pretty long story. It's up to you if you believe it or not, but the truth is, I do know quite a lot about the future. You see, this world, is not my own…"

**Nami's PoV**

I was staring in wonder and disbelief at her. This was too much to take in at once, and even harder to believe. "Hey, wait. Let me get this straight," I said and took a deep breath. "So you're not really from this world, but from an entirely different dimension?"

Embla nodded. "Uh-huh"

"And you got here through a portal that a device that Cat made, opened?"

"Yep."

"And this world, Ruffy's adventures are existing in your world too, but in the shape of a comic?"

"That's pretty much it, aye. Except that that's our adventures, or rather, yours as I'm not in the original story, but you, you're in it all the way from the Buggy arc."

I shook my head in disbelief. "This is too weird to believe…"

"It's your choice whether to believe it or not," Embla said and shrugged. Then she sighed out deeply. "Aah, that felt great." It was but a mumble, that I wasn't entirely sure that I was supposed to hear. There was a moment of silence between us that left both of us some time to think. Whether I chose to believe her story or not, she still knew about Arlong, about it all. I didn't know whether to feel worried or relieved.

"You know…" Embla cut through my confused thoughts. "Are you still going to go back there?"

I looked upon her with a frown. She was asking the obvious. "Of course! I have no choice, anyway."

"Don't say that." Her voice almost sparked a flicker of hope in my heart, but I knew that I could not hope. "You always have a choice. Remember that I said that you will be sailing with us all the way?"

I frowned at her. She expected me to really believe that she knew the future? To believe her story? Hadn't she just said that she didn't? I would never understand the minds of monsters… Still, she turned to me with an immensely serious expression and said, "You haven't seen all that Ruffy can do. He can, and will defeat Arlong. All you have to do is ask him."

**Another chapter is at end, folks! I hope you enjoyed it! And please, please, pretty please review! Only one or two reviews per chapter feels so mediocre… **

**Now for the SBS!**

**From Seraph: I remember when you told me about that dream ahah XD One heck of a dream xP. I particularly liked this chapter, I am a romantic after all ahah XD. Bishop stew does sound pretty interesting too and I liked the beginning, it adds a little darkness to the story. SBS: What is cat's opinion about living on a ship? **

**J: Trust me, bishop stew is simple, yet delicious! I might put up the recipe some day! And about her opinion… Oi, Cat!**

**Cat: Nhhr, what?**

**J: *shows letter***

**Cat: Oh. Well, I dislike getting wet, but as long as I keep myself dry, I have to admit that I quite like it.**

**Thank you, Cat. On to the next question!**

**From Mionic t: good question seraph!  
hmmm, my oddest dream ever was 3 seconds long,  
BOOM!  
someone flying,  
end  
SBS: how did you even remember that dream? i never remember dreams properly, except for that one, wich is 3 sec long... oh, and i neeed pics of embla soon if im gonna animate the first ch **

**J: I don't really know… ****I just remember them sometimes. It's really rare though. And pics of Embla are **_**coming,**_** I just need to get the scanner working…**

**From Colbub: ****^^ This chapter is much better! Detail is flowing well. XD****  
****  
I always wondered. How ever did Zoro meet Johnny and his brother? _**

**J: Actually, that story is told in the anime episode 135: The wandering swordsman Zoro. It's the anime version, though.**

**That's it for this time and next time I might explain the rules of RftG since I know quite a lot of you have been wondering.**


	15. Beware of flying ships!

**I have had a major lack of flow this chapter which caused a slight delay. Sorry. But really, I don't have a set schedule and I'd like to make that clear. My updates will be no less frequent than once every second week, but I'll try to update once a week. Any longer than two weeks and I'll warn you beforehand. Even an author needs a break every now and then.**

**On another topic, you might remember that I mentioned the Flame Edge pirates a**** few chapters back, yeah? Well, it's a pirate clan that me an' an old friend called Seraph (well, on the internet at least) started a while back. What I'm trying to say? You see, I am going to start writing an OP/Lore crossover fic based upon that very cre****w and its adventure in the OP world. Of course, not our actual adventures, but you get my point. So you can look forward to the prologue of **_**Misadventures of the lame Edge pirates**_** to be released in a few weeks. It won't be updated nearly as often as this fi****c, though, so don't worry. **_**A Viking**_** is still my primary project.**

**Normal disclaimers apply.**** Not feeling too imaginative at the moment.**

I heaved myself up back on the ship and started to dry my hair. 30 laps today, not too shabby, I guess.

Nami hadn't spoken too much since our little talk earlier. I was still a bit surprised that she hadn't thrown me off the ship already; I guess some of what I had said had reached her. Now it only remained to see how much of it she had really taken to heart.

As I had just put on my striped tank top and was reaching for my black jeans vest, Nami tapped my shoulder. I turned around, warily, still not sure whether she would push me off the ship or not. "Hm?"

Nami looked at me with slightly unsure eyes, as if she didn't quite find her words, something that was unusual for the ginger navigator. "There's… something I'd like to ask you…"

I raised an eyebrow. Just a question, huh? I put on my vest thoughtfully and leaned back against the railing. "Shoot, I might answer."

She was silent for a few seconds, trying to find the right words, and then spoke. "You know, back at the slope…"

I gulped when she said this. Don't tell me she noticed my little insanity back then? Damn, I really did not want to talk about that. But I soon realized that my worries were for naught as she found her words.

"Back then, you borrowed my rod…" Damn don't tell me that she wants to charge me for that… "It was really amazing, those techniques you used. Any chance you could teach me a bit?"

Oh, so that was what it was all about. Rod techniques. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Was she really serious? "Why? I mean, sure thing, but is there any special reasons?"

"Well, actually," she sighed and went on. "I thought about what you told me and-" She halted and sighed again, but more in annoyance at herself than anything else. "You know what? Forget it."

My eyebrow rose even higher in double surprise, but then I closed my eyes with a mocking 'che'. So she still didn't believe in us, her nakama. Well, minding her circumstances, who could blame her? "Still, if you change your mind, just ask."

"Just forget it!" she snapped back. I just turned towards the kitchen and waved a hand calmly at her.

Right now, I craved chocolate cupcakes.

_Some time later…_

Cocoyashi village was now in sight and we would be docking in a minute. Nami gazed towards the village with an unreadable expression and I decided to snap her out of it with a tap on her shoulder.

"Huh?"

I simply hander her the binocular that I'd been looking in and pointed towards the horizon in the direction from which we had come from. With a wondering look she looked in the direction that I had indicated. When looking through the binocular, one could make out a small boat at the horizon.

"That's Zoro, Usopp, Johnny and possibly Cat. They've been following us all the time, just to bring you back."

She clenched her fist in frustration. I just sighed. Well, at least I had tried. If it would have any effect at all remained to be seen. "Just give me a hand. We're docking!" Nami yelled at me in frustration. Hell, she was starting to enter 'witch-mode'…

The second we had dropped anchor I jumped down and started to walk up towards the village. "Oi, where are you going?" Nami yelled after me.

Without turning around I calmly, and intentionally annoying, answered, "Why does that matter to you? Until you ask Captain for help and accepts us as nakama, what I do is none of your business." I smirked slightly at Nami's reaction. Even if I couldn't see it, I could still sense her frustration.

I'd left my headphones back at the crow's nest. Didn't use them much these days. There simply was no need to shut the world off anymore. There were a few things that I was planning to do before the others came, and the first one on the list was to complete my arsenal. Sure, Sôzô-ryoku was real handy and pretty much completed my weapons arsenal all by itself, but no matter how amazing it was, it could not make double wielded weapons. But about halfway into the village I remembered something that made me facepalm. Arlong had forbidden the owning of weapons of any kind, which made my chances of finding a weapons store in Cocoyashi zero. How very frustrating. I gritted my teeth and unconsciously brought my hand to the leather holster I had made for Sôzô-ryoku. Well, then I'd just have to do without tonfa. So I started to make my way to the village's bar for my other errand.

The bar was really empty, even considering the village's situation. I sat down by the bar and ordered a horn of mead. "Haven't seen your face before," the bartender pointed out.

I smirked and took the horn. Pretty traditional, that, serving mead in horns. "Well, that's 'cos I just arrived. Pretty quiet here, eh?"

He frowned and shook his head sadly. "Stranger, a good advice: don't stay here any longer than you have to. You'll just get into trouble." He indicated towards the sword strapped to my back; the only weapon I hadn't concealed.

I glanced at my sword and smirked. "Che. Trouble, huh?" I said and gulped down a third of the horn's contents. "Arlong and his pack, huh?"

He raised an eyebrow, and then sighed. "If you already know, then you should know not to come here in the first place."

I simply grinned defiantly at him. "Oh, I'm just a bit interested in this 'Arlong' fella and his gang, that's all."

Once again he shook his head and sighed, closing his eyes for a second, seeming to consider something. "Bounty hunter, are ye? Aren't you a bit young for that, boy?"

A vein popped up on my forehead. "That's _girl_, mind you." I spun around and leaned against the bar. So, he assumed I was a bounty hunter, huh? Well, he could assume whatever he wanted, for all I cared. Right now I wanted info, and I did not think that he would give me any if he knew that I was a pirate. "And I wouldn't exactly call myself a bounty hunter. Still, these fishmen interests me, could you tell me about them?"

He hesitated for a second, but then agreed and started to tell me about the crew- about what they had done in the past, and still was doing, and how terrifying they were. I already knew about that and I urged him to tell me more about the members of the crew. I hid my boredom until he mentioned one among the top brass whose name was new to me. Kajiki. "Could you tell me a bit more about this 'Kajiki'?"

"Yes… He's a sailfish fishman, said to be the absolute fastest of the Arlong pirates."

This perked my interest. Sailfishes were able to reach a speed of 110 km per hour under water. "Speedy fella, huh? What's his fighting style?"

"Fencing," he answered before halting. "Why are you so interested in them, anyway?"

I smirked. "I figure that that 'Kajiki' will be my opponent, but I can't really do anything before my captain arrives," I answered truthfully. I had gotten the info I wanted, now I had nothing to hide. On second thought, I had a lot to hide, but you know what I mean. I raised the horn to my lips and took a good chug before continuing. "Today will be a day of great change." I gulped down the rest of my mead and left a few coins at the desk to pay for my drink before exiting the bar.

I looked towards the sky. It seemed that more time had passed than I had thought. Then something caught my eye. Some blocks away; an upside-down house. Damn, that meant I had missed Usopp. How the hell did I manage to not notice all of that noise? I might not have missed Zoro, though, so I went down to the docks and saw the approaching pot, in which Zoro was getting a ride. I didn't bother hiding, since I knew that Hachi was a nice guy, deep down.

"Oi, Embla!" Zoro called out as he spotted me. I waved my hand with a grin. As Zoro jumped out, Hachi's head popped up from under the surface.

"Nyuu, friend of yours?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer he started to swim back to Arlong Park. But he halted after about twenty meters and turned around. "That's right! I didn't catch your name." But before Zoro could answer, Hachi said, "ah? My name? It's Hachi! Have a nice day!" And with that, he swam away, leaving the two of us at the docks.

"What a weird fishman…" Zoro commented.

I simply smiled and sighed. "Weird, yeah."

"Anyway, Embla," he said and turned towards me, wearing a serious expression. "What's the situation here, really?"

"I can explain it all later. For now, we have to go rescue Usopp. He's getting chased by the fishmen," I replied frankly, showing no signs of hurry.

Zoro got pissed. "The hell? Why didn't you go after him, already?"

"'Cos I just got to know, then you appeared," I relied, actually _not_ smirking.

No more words were needed, we ran through the forest as fast as we could. Our heading: Arlong Park. But then I heard a loud crash and a howling sound, edged by a very familiar laughter. Ah. I poked Zoro on the shoulder. "Maybe we should step aside a bit…"

"Huh?" He stopped in confusion, just in time for the ship to appear. "What the?"

"Beware of flying ships!" I yelled jokingly.

"Ah! Zoro! Embla!"

"Ruffy? The hell?"

I threw myself to the side with a roll, but Zoro got hit straight on. I casually walked after it, trying to keep myself from laughing. The ship soon hit a rock wall and got pretty busted up. I smirked and, using my best GlaDOS voice, I quoted, "It's been a long time. How have you been?"

"Oi, Embla, that was just plain creepy," Cat remarked with a sweatdrop expression. Ruffy just laughed as he got yelled at by the conscious people present. I just shook my head, grinning as I approached the debris pile that had once been Sanji's ship.

"Flashy entrance, that. Did you run over a geyser?" I asked jokingly.

"Very funny," Cat shot back, her long fur a mess. She looked quite shaken from that trip.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this," Zoro grumbled. "While we're dawdling here, Usopp might-"

"It's already too late, Zoro-aniki!" Johnny's voice rang across the landing field. "Usopp-aniki is already dead! He was killed! By Nami-aneki!"

There was several gasps of surprise and disbelief, but before anyone could say anything, I raised both my hands and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold your horses here. Don't jump to conclusions." When I was sure I had their attention, and I even spotted Nami some distance away, I said, "I think you've gotten a few parts wrong here. Nami didn't kill Usopp, even if she did make it look as if she did." I did a short pause for dramatic effect. Well, it worked; I had their attention, even if Cat was glaring daggers at me. "What she stabbed was her own hand, Usopp understood what she intended and played along. Nami didn't kill Usopp; she saved him." I folded my arms behind my head and leaned against a tree, fringe shadowing my eyes as the others took it in. Well, cat was still glaring daggers, but I ignored her.

"Spot on, wasn't I?" As I still didn't get any response from the person I was trying to reach, I went on. "Still don't believe me, Nami?" At that last sentence I had turned my head towards where Nami stood, somehow unnoticed until now. Her cold mask that she had originally worn had cracked and one could see that she was torn at the decision of what to do. Sanji's visible eye turned into a heart, Ruffy brightened up and Zoro kept his guard up, unsure of what to make of all of this. Josack was still unconscious. My smirk widened as I looked Nami in the eye. "Why don't _you_ spill the beans? Tell us your story already."

The guys remained silent as Nami fought an inner battle with herself, a feeling I could all too well relate to, but stubborn as she was, she quickly reached a decision. Not the preferable one, though. "Just get away from this island! You outsiders have nothing to do with this!" Ooh, that stung. That meant she still didn't believe me, then. I knew that I could probably convince her if I tried further, but whether to trust us or not was a decision she had to reach herself. I was not going to steal the show. Bangs once again shadowing my eyes, I remained silent, as did the others. This was a choice she had to make herself, and we weren't going to lift a finger until she did.

Nami seemed to recover her cold mask and said, "I never was your nakama to begin with. I'm warning you; Zoro gravely messed things up back there. Arlong and his clan are out to kill 'Roronoa Zoro and his men'. You may be as strong as monsters, but you don't stand a chance against _real_ monsters."

'_Oooh, just you wait 'til we enter the Grand line, then you'll see _monsters_,'_I thought to myself. Out loud, I spoke, "What happened to not being able to call us human? Where's the trust?"

A hardly visible frown appeared between her brows. "There never was any to begin with. You can take your ship, find a navigator and search for your stupid 'One Piece' or whatever, just get lost and leave me alone!" Something in her eyes hinted that she didn't quite believe in her words herself, but she still didn't waver. "Farewell." Her words carried a heavy finality, and not even Cat came up with any good way to counter it. Of course, being Ruffy, our Captain took matters in his own hands and fell to the ground like a tree, and declared that he was going to take a nap.

"A nap? Here? NOW? Right in the middle of the road?" I flinched slightly as Josack, who at some point had woken up, almost did _the voice_ as he yelled out in bafflement. Ruffy's insanity was still a bit too much for his brain to comprehend.

"I'm not gonna leave this island, and I'm not interested in what's going on here," Ruffy calmly stated, completely ignoring his companions' baffled outbursts. "And I'm sleepy. Good night." Ruffy's last sentence carried a finality that not even Nami's 'farewell' could begin to measure up to. Seriously, the guy wasn't Captain for nothing.

Sanji got a serious eye-tick, Josack and Johnny jawdropped and Zoro, being the most accustomed to Ruffy's antics, simply facepalmed. I couldn't stop a chuckle. Cat still seemed pissed at me.

Ruffy's actions had been the last drop; Nami exploded. "Do what you want, then! Go and die, and see if I care!" And then she stormed off, and I could swear that I could see a tear at the corner of her eye.

**So, guys. That's all for this time, and I hope that I will pass this 'lack of flow-period' as I call it, quickly. So, soon we will see Embla get real damn serious and I will push her to her limits for the first time! (Yay! ^^) Also, the crew will get to know of earth, and I think you can figure out what will occur…**

**Now, as I promised, I will explain, as shortly as I can, the rules of Race for the Galaxy, as Embla really likes to play the game. Also, I will introduce more games in the future, so look forward to that! Also, there will be no SBS this time as I have gotten no questions **

**So, basically, RftG is a card game that consists of two main type of cards; planets and developments. Furthermore, there are the action cards, and that's what I'll start with to avoid as much confusion as possible. **

**The action cards are a special type of card that all players have a complete set of, and these are simply for choosing what one wishes to do on that round. When only two people play, one chooses two cards per round, but when there are more participants, one only chooses one. Everyone can do the action that someone else has chosen, but the one choosing the action gets a little bonus that differs depending on what card one plays.**

**First among the actions there is explore, and the basic action for explore is draw two, keep one of 'em. The one that plays explore can choose to either get the +1, +1 bonus, which is the most used one. It means that one can draw three cards and keep two instead. The other option is +5, meaning draw seven, keep one. This action is done first.**

**Second in order is Develop. This is the phase where one plays out developments, a type of cards that I will refer back to later. The one playing the develop action card gets a -1 bonus, meaning that it gets one card cheaper to play it.**

**Third in line is Settle. It is, like Develop, a phase where one plays out cards, and in this case, planets, or worlds as is the more preferable phrase. The bonus for choosing this is that after playing a world, one draws a card.**

**Fourth up is Consume. This is the phase when one sells or consumes goods, something that I will, again, refer back to. Two different bonuses for this one, and one chooses one. These are Consume x2, which gives double the victory points for consuming goods. Second is Consume/trade, which means that one can sell a good for cards, different amounts of cards depending on what type of good it is. Again, I will refer back to this. **

**Fifth, and last phase is Produce. This is where all players produce on all of their production worlds, and the one choosing Produce gets to produce upon one windfall world. Again, I will refer back to this, but first I will tell about Development type cards.**

**Of course, a phase only occurs if someone chooses it, which was why Embla cursed back in chapter thirteen, as she had hoped for someone to choose produce so she could replenish her stocks that she would deplete in the Consume phase that she chose herself.**

**Now, as for the Development card type. This is, as I said, one of the two major card types. There are two different types of these; normal ones and the ones commonly referred to as 'six-cards', as they all cost six cards to play out. Developments, like worlds, add special effects and advantages to the player having played it. The number indicated in the small rhombus in the upper-left corner of the card indicates how many cards one has to discard, or 'pay', to play it. The small hexagon just below it indicates how many victory points that card is worth at the end of the game, and this is where the six-cards get special: They have a question mark. How many points the six-cards are worth depends on what other cards you have played and one don't really know before the game has ended, if one doesn't count it all the time, and one rarely do. What cards it is that make the six-card in question worth points depends entirely upon the individual card. It is usually the six-card combinations that decide the match in the end, so one has to make sure to have some good combos up the sleeve.**

**The other card type is the Planets, or the Worlds as I prefer to call them. There are two major types of worlds; economical worlds and military worlds. These two are, in turn, separated in three groups; non-production, windfall and production. Production and windfall are also divided into four colors; novelty(blue), rare elements(brown), genes(green) and alien technology(yellow). These four categories are of little importance if I'm not going to go into the finer details of the game, so I will focus upon the two main categories for now. Economical worlds are played out as developments, you pay the number of cards indicated in the circle in the top-left corner to play the card. Military worlds, on the other hand, one needs military points to play. Military points are gained through certain developments and worlds. If one doesn't have as many, or more military points than the card's cost, one can't play the card, but on the other hand, when playing a military world, one doesn't have to pay any cards for it. Military worlds are rarely production worlds though. **

**Then we have the windfall and production worlds. Windfall worlds are already loaded with a good when one plays it, unlike the production worlds, but on the minus side, it is trickier to produce upon them. Goods are, in fact, upside-down turned cards that are placed upon these worlds to mark if that world is 'loaded' with a good. (a world can only have one good on it at a time) Goods can me consumed in, as we call them at home, 'windmills' which are certain worlds and developments that have a consume power. Goods can be consumed for loose victory points, or traded in for cards, if one chooses the 'Consume/trade' action. **

**In the beginning of a game, one gets handed seven cards and two starter worlds. One gets to keep five of the cards and choose one of the starter worlds to start the game. The game is finished when someone has played out twelve cards and the one with the most victory points in total, wins.**

**Even if this might seem as a game that relies upon luck, as most card games do, beginners luck won't work. It's all about combinations and choosing the right track early on. And mind you, this is only the basic rules, there is a lot more of finer details and such, and then there are three expansions too! **

**Wow, this must have been my by far longest AN ever. OwO' Well, I felt like I had to explain this, so I hope I made things more clear to you. If there are any remaining questions about the game, don't hesitate to ask. **

**Well then, until next time!**


	16. Charge!

**Slight note before the chapter starts, when I write in bold and in capital letters, it means that the person speaking is using _the voice,_ something that I will explain later on. It does not mean that they are yelling, because they are not. And when I write _the voice, _I do not use citation marks, because when I write it like that, it is always speech. And only two persons in this entire fic are able to use it.**

**I don't feel all too witty at the moment, so I'll put it shortly; Standard disclaimers apply.**

Soon, things settled down a bit as we sat down and contemplated the situation. Josack and Johnny left, saying that they didn't want to get killed by Arlong. Well, who could blame them?

With the background noise of Zoro and Sanji fighting over something trivial again, Cat was scolding me. "Are you insane? You're frikkin' blowing our cover! What are you thinking?"

"I'm just tired of hiding it," I countered. "We wouldn't be able to hide it for long, anyway. So I decided to tell them abut it after we defeat Arlong."

"You can't be serious! How do you think they'll react?"

"It'll be fine, just trust me," I tried, but Cat had more to say.

"Do you seriously think they'd let you stay if they knew? That they'd let a killer stay?"

I froze. It all honesty, I had not thought that she'd bring that up. I bit my lip, doing my best to hold down the tears that threatened to surface. **DO. NOT. MENTION. THAT.**

"Sorry," she apologised, a bit ashamed. "I know it's a sensitive subject, but I care for your happiness, you know," she said with a soft, quiet tone that I rarely heard from her mouth.

Fringe shadowing my eyes, I silently answered. "I know. But I wasn't intending to tell them of my past, only of earth and all that. My past has nothing to do with it."

Cat crept up in my lap to comfort me. "Oh. I see. Sorry for jumping to conclusions."

I smiled sadly. "Don't worry about it. Besides, two background stories in one arc is a bit too much on an info overload," I said, slipping back into my usual quirk.

"Embla, are you all right?"

Sanji looked down at me with concerned eyes. I smiled weakly as I responded. "Yes, I'm fine. Just got reminded of something I'd rather not think of, that's all."

This, unfortunately for him, triggered mellorine-mode. "Embla-cwhan is so wonderful when she's humb-"

Once again, he was interrupted by my fist, that sent him flying good- Straight into Usopp. I decided to make the best of the situation. "Oh, so that's where he was."

"OI!" came the immediate reply from my two awake friends.

I flinched a bit. "Stop trying to do _the voice, _It's freaky, seriously."

"Says you!" Cat immediately countered, as she'd just heard me use it just moments ago. Zoro frowned, not understanding what we meant.

Ruffy quickly woke up and almost panicked at the sight of two of his nakama knocked down. "Aah! Usopp! Sanji! What happened, did Nami do this to you?"

"Ah, no. That was me..." I admitted, feeling awkward. But soon, the two woke up, and Usopp confirmed that what I had stated before was, indeed, true, which Zoro pointed out.

"But how could you have known that? You were with me the whole time."

Sanji, for once, agreed. "The Marimo's got a point. Not that I would ever doubt you, Embla-chan, but it doesn't make any sense."

A vein popped up on my forehead as I picked up a strand of grass and put it in my mouth. "Drop the 'chan' already, honorifics gives me the creeps." I sighed and moved on to the main question. "Actually, how I know is a long story. I'll tell you, but not now. Nojiko will explain Nami's situation and the goings-on on this island first. If I were to tell you my story on top of that, it would cause severe information overload. For now, just trust me."

"Aww, and I was hoping for a story..." Ruffy complained, pouting.

Any response that I was going to make was interrupted by Nojiko's baffled voice. "H- How did you know what I was going to do?"

"Right on cue," Cat commented.

"And how do you know my name, anyway?" she demanded.

I waved a hand dismissively. "Long, at the moment insignificant story. Anyway, would you mind telling us what happened here, really?"

"Who's that?" Ruffy wondered, before Nojiko could respond.

"Oh, that's Nami's older sister," answered Usopp, having met her before.

Sanji entered mellorine-mode. ""Nami-chwan's sister? What a wonderful woman!" Well, as long as he wasn't hitting on me, he could go mellorine all he'd like. Zoro, like me, chose to observe for now.

Ignoring Sanji's relentless flirting, Nojiko shook her head and spoke. "Just give it up, you can't unbalance Arlong's reign."

This made Zoro raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'give up'?"

Nojiko, seemingly ignoring what I had said before, simply answered, "Please don't engage yourselves in this island's affairs anymore. I will explain everything, as long as you leave this island when I have."

I smirked at the thought. Us? Leaving? Now? Hell no. Obviously, Ruffy shared my opinion as he said, with a completely unreadable expression that most that knew him would interpret as simpleminded determination, "No thanks. I'm not interested in her past." And with that, he started to walk away, stating that he was going to take a walk.

"A walk? You don't want to hear?" Usopp asked, confused, still not entirely used to Ruffy's antics. Well, it took some time to.

Ruffy answered with a simple "Nope," and walked away.

Nojiko raised an eyebrow. "What's with him?"

Zoro, having picked the spot by a nearby tree as a comfortable napping spot, simply smiled and explained, sort of. "Don't care about him, that's just how he is. We'll listen, but don't expect it to change anything." And the same moment that those words left his mouth, he fell asleep on the spot, which Nojiko pointed out, visibly sweat-dropping.

"Don't fall asleep when it's serious!" Usopp yelled out in anger, his instincts reacting on public displays of idiocy.

I smiled in reply of his outburst. "Oh, but he _is_ listening. You'd be amazed of the things he hears when he's asleep."

Nojiko sighed with a thoughtful smile. "I think I'm starting to understand why Nami's so troubled."

And then she proceeded to tell us the sob-story that is Nami's past. At first, I hardly paid any attention, already knowing the story by heart, but I soon found myself listening to every word, and getting more fired up than I had ever gotten by the story before. It was one thing reading the story in a book, however brilliantly written, and no matter how much you 'feel' the character, how good you 'know' the character, it was a different thing entirely when you actually knew the person in question personally, considering her as nakama even.

Keeping the beast inside on a short leash, I listened. Listened and waited. And endured. Endured listening, imagining the inhumanity that my nakama had been put through all these years. But, we still would not act, as Nami did not want our help. Yet. Thus I waited, silently discussing with my darker side just how I would cut up the ones who had tormented her so. Shish kebab sounded strangely appetising at the moment, shish kebab made from fishman flesh.

I know, I can get pretty morbid occasionally.

And thus, we soon sat there, at different spots by the main road in Cocoyashi village, observing the villagers' rising rebellion, despite Nami's best efforts to stop it. The villagers stormed to Arlong Park, leaving a torn Nami behind, stabbing herself in the tattoo at her shoulder in despair. Ruffy stepped in behind her, catching her hand to prevent her from injuring herself further, and to alert her of his presence. She pulled back at first, rejecting him, asking him to leave, until she finally gave up. With tear-filled eyes, she finally reached out to her nakama, who were there for her, always. All she had to do was ask.

"Help me."

A single sentence could do so much. Ruffy silently placed Hat upon her head; a gesture of absolute trust among those who knew him, and he walked a few steps before deeply inhaling.

His yell of "Of course!" rang throughout the village, signalling that the Straw Hat pirates finally had a reason to act. Ruffy strode forward, declaring "It's time" as he passed us, his crew.

No further words were needed.

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Arlong Park's days were counted, this conclusion was easily reached from simply watching the look in our eyes as we strode forward. It was so simple it was ridiculous. Those were the people that had made our nakama miserable, made her cry. They. Were. Going. To. _Pay. _I could feel my dark side stir just by thinking about it, but I would not let her have this moment, under no circumstances.

Ruffy strode forward to the gate, and the villagers watching could just as well have been non-existent. We did not see them. Ruffy pulled his arm back and punched. Once. Twice. The gate gave way and literally flew out of its hinges. He cracked his knuckles and asked, simply, threatening, "Which one of you is Arlong?"

I immediately spotted Kajiki. He was skinnier than the others and had a nose in the same league as Arlong, sans the saw teeth. His skin tone was a rather dark blue and he had an unusually large, blue back fin on his neck. He had a fox-like expression that reminded me a lot of Ichimaru Gin in Bleach. He was clad in a long, deep green vest, unbuttoned, and grey shorts. He had a light blue cloth tied around his waist, holding his rapier. His hairstyle was... interesting. It did not fit his overall look at all. It practically screamed Ace Ventura.

All the while my third thought informed me of all this, (And the words 'lo-hoo ze-heer' popped up in my head for some reason**[1]**) Ruffy had just smacked down two random fishmen that were stupid enough to stand in his path. Cat appeared beside me, and a small part of my mind wondered why, as she had said, just a few arcs ago, hat she was no fighter.

Some more fishmen decided that charging Ruffy was an excellent idea, which was swiftly answered by a barrage of kicks from Sanji. "Don't just go running ahead," he told Ruffy with an annoyed undertone.

"It's not like I'm going to be beaten if I'm alone," he calmly replied.

"I ain't worried about you, idiot," Sanji shot back and took a deep drag on his cigarette. "But you can't go hog all the prey."

The others responded in agreement, while I remained silent. I simply was too occupied with my own thoughts to speak, the main part of my brain fighting off off my dark half, who was growing increasingly impatient.

But then, Hachi called out Mohmoo. And mentioned sea monster appeared with a large bump on its head, probably courtesy of Sanji. And to add to the fun, the cannon fodder of the crew was preparing to charge us.

"I'll take 'em, such a waste of time!"Ruffy said and smacked his fists together, only to be interrupted by Cat.

"I know what you're planning, and I have to say that I do not think it's a very good idea. So, how about this? You guys take the top brass, I take the rest, 'kay?"

This seriously caught me off guard. Cat? _Fighting?_ Didn't she say, back at... that place where we fought Buggy and CO, Gods I suck at names. Didn't she say that she wasn't a fighter? But, Ruffy just nodded and we all backed off a bit, to see something that I still have some difficulty believing, occasionally.

Cat, tiny, fluffy _Cat_, leaped up several metres in the air, and, in a fluid movement, she delivered the mother of all scratches to the poor cow. Before I could even register what had happened, Cat sat on the top of a large pile of defeated fishmen. To say that we jawdropped would be an understatement.

"What the-" Zoro exclaimed.

"How?" Sanji wondered. Usopp was simply rendered speechless.

"Don't ask me, I've never seen her do that before," I replied, stunned to say the least.

All humans present made a silent vow never to piss her off.

The only one who seemed to be unfazed was actually Ruffy, who simply grinned and nodded approvingly. The rest of us shrugged and decided to ask her about it later.

"I've done my share," she said casually and walked to the observing crowd. "Now, go kick their asses, will ya?"

Ruffy grinned in agreement and cracked his knuckles. "Yosh, leave it to us!"

The remaining fishmen seemed to regard us with a mixture of shock and frustration, except for Kajiki, who seemed fascinated, if anything. Arlong himself was practically fuming, but he was asked not to act by his subordinates, namely Kuroobi.

"You let us take care of this, Arlong. If we were to let you fight in rage, Arlong Park will be reduced to rubble."

Well, true enough. But it would not be so by his hands, no. Wrong captain.

"Oi, Embla," Zoro said. I turned my head to indicate that he had my attention. "You mentioned that you'd been doing some research on these guys, yeah?"

I nodded. "The guy with the braid and weird elbows is Kuroobi, a martial artist," I replied, now addressing all of my nakama present. "The octo-guy is Hachi, a swordsman using the six-sword style. The fella with elongated lips is Chuu, marksman. And finally, the constantly smiling guy with large head fin and pointy nose is Kajiki. Fencer. Speedy fella."

Sanji took a drag and said, "I guess the match-up is pretty much decided, then."

"Yup," I confirmed. "But I have my suspicions. Five battles on this space? A bit crammed, I'd say."

"This is hardly the time to worry about elbow space," Zoro countered. "Octo-guy is up to something."

And indeed, Hachi had doubled over, indicating that he was preparing his ink-attack.

"Zero visibility. Tako-Hachi-Black!"

Thanks to Ruffy not being stuck, thanks to Cat, we all managed to avoid the blackness, but then, like an oiled lightning, under the cover of the ink-spray, Kajiki charged. Those two were obviously used to attacking in unison. Well, Kajiki was my prey, so I swiftly drew my daggers and met up with the attack, causing about half of my white hair to be soaked in black ink, but this was hardly the time to be thinking of such things.

"Ara ara, you surprised me. To think you could keep up with my attack. You deserve credit, and I guess that I don't have anything against fighting a girl," he said, smiling as our blades met.

I smirked back as I answered. "I'm glad you don't."

Our blades parted as we jumped back, preparing our next strike. It also gave a moment to, out of the corner of my eye, survey my nakama's positions. Hachi and Kuroobi had already begun their duels with Zoro and Sanji. Usopp had attempted to sneak off, but Chuu quickly saw him and started to chase after him. Ruffy made a head-on charge at Arlong, and then I had no more time to observe further.

I sped up, and sheathed my daggers as I met up, and side-stepped Kajiki's stab. Standing beside him, I grabbed his arm and, without using any raw strength, directed the force of the stab in a circular motion downwards and placed a hand on his neck, and threw him forward, followed quickly by me swiftly grabbing the throwing knives on the inside of my vest and throwing them after him. However, he was quicker than I thought and recovered almost immediately, easily dodging the knives.

"As I thought, there is a lot more to you than it seems," he commented.

My mouth quirked upwards a bit, before I grabbed the sword on my back. There would be no more holding back.

We pounced once again, sword in hands.

"It saddens me that I will have to kill such a brilliant warrioress," Kajiki spoke suddenly, in the middle of our clashing swords.

I raised an eyebrow. "You seem like quite a nice guy. Why do you follow Arlong?"

"I have my reasons."

After a few seconds of swords clashing, with neither side gaining on the other, my breathing turned heavy, and I knew that I would not be able to keep this up for long.

"I'm sorry," I heard Kajiki say, before the sword flew out of my hands, and again, everything seemed to move in slow motion, even more than it already did, since I was already going at top-speed. He brought his arm back to jab me through the stomach, but I quickly grabbed my chain and, ever so slightly side-stepping, I caught the blade of the rapier in one of the links of my chain and pulled. The rapier, and my chain, flew about twenty metres to the side and, with a splash, sank into the sea. Pity, it had been a good chain. However, I did not have enough time to block the incoming uppercut that sent me flying straight into the building of Arlong Park. The impact made my vision blur and darken, as my damage limit was not really what one would call high. I was only good at dodging, really. I tried to rise from the rubble, only to have a large chunk of concrete fall on me.

**[1] Seriously, if you don't get this, go watch Ace Ventura. Seriously.  
**

**Ooh, cliffhanger. You guys hate me now.**

**Not the longest chapter yet, perhaps. But I am quite satisfied with it. However, I am quite troubled by one thing. Excluding this chapter, my latest four chapters has only gotten one review in total. It makes me puzzled. I soon have more favourite markings than reviews, so I know that you like it, but if you do, please be so kind and tell what you like about it. And if you don't. Please tell me what to do to improve. I always love constructive criticism. **

**Also, I love good suggestions, so if you have a good(Or completely crazy)idea that you would like to see in this fic, please feel free to tell me about it. I love suggestions. **

**Also, cookiez to the one who can figure out who _He_ is. I have mentioned him several times, and he appeared in _The many meanings of 'Ship' _and he is the original user of _the voice_. I've given you enough clues, damn it! You should not have any problems guessing, it should be fairly obvious who it is by now. **

**Now for the SBS.**

**From Mionic t: ****does kajiki mean anything? **

**J: Nope. It's just a name, based on Bashoukajiki, the Japanese word for Sailfish.**

**From Seraph:I'm still baffled on how to play RFTG xD, I'm bad at card games, always were lol. I lol'd at the "boy" Joke, its been some time since I've seen that anyway the flow of the story is fine really, I've had those moments too ^^. SBS: I wonder if Cat could make a mini-bolter or bolt pistol *hint hint* x3 **

**J: Ah, I guess we'll have to play it when you visit Sweden, then. Anyway, she might, but then, she might not, as Embla is completely hopeless with a gun. She might make one for Usopp though, but as you know, he prefers slingshots before guns. But maybe... a bolter slingshot? OwO *Mental gears turning, craziness being created... * …Awesum...**

**Well, folks. That's it for this time, but I have a ton of inspiration for the next chapter, so It won't take long 'till it's out. I think. ^^'**


	17. Crossing the border, twice

**Heya guys! I eez back! I still have a shitload of schoolwork to do, and I am neglecting my homework as I am writing this. Oh, I know I'm awesome. Anyway, a helluva thanks for your reviews. They are my ethanol. What, you thought that I'd say fuel? Bah, I'm an environmentalist, with a passion. And in this chapter Embla finally uses a named attack! Enjoy.**

**Oh well, on with the story. And I dun' own nothin' but Cat, her inventions, Embla, her big brother and the fic idea. I also own any additional islands that might appear in the future. Other than that, I own absolutely nothing.**

* * *

Let me tell you, big chunks of concrete falling on top of you, especially when you just flew through a frikkin' stone wall, Hurts. Like. Hell. And if you, at the same time, have to fight your killing machine of an alternate personality, then you have my position at that very moment. On top of being buried under a pile of rubble, not-me was stirring. I could practically feel the spade-mark on my left cheek twitching. But this time, I would not let her win. This battle was my own to fight, my own victory to savour, and not her. With a great heave, accompanied by a loud groan I managed to toss the boulder off of me.

"Ara, so she survived, huh?" I heard Kajiki say, but it barely registered. I brought my hand towards my holster and unsheathed Sôzô-Ryoku. With a _chinnk_ and a _dzoon_, it turned into a scythe, one of the weapons that I was, by far, the most adept with. There was a time for mercy, and this certainly wasn't it. Staggering, I rose from the debris, much like a zombie, leaning heavily on my scythe. I took a deep breath and lifted it, shifting into a stance that I didn't think I'd be using for some time yet, and unleashed my first named attack since entering the One Piece world.

**SHINIGAMI NO TOBIRA**

* * *

**Cat's PoV**

This was, to say the least, quite some surprise. I had honestly not thought that she would get serious this soon. It was kinda disturbing, really, minding who had taught her that style. True enough, he had only taught her half of it, as she had made up her own combination of that style and Aikido, which made her move more flowing, among other things. I watched as my long-time friend and companion raised her scythe, the shaft in a 45° angle from the ground, the blue, glowing blade shining like a crescent moon behind her, and performed a move that I had seen all too many times.

**SHINIGAMI NO TOBIRA**

In a fluid movement, too fast for an untrained eye to even hope to register, she dashed forward and brought the scythe down in a slashing motion. Once. Twice. Thrice. Forming the shape of a gate, hauntingly similar to the black gate that led to Death's own mansion, hence the name. She reappeared behind the blue-fin, whose deep cuts, edged with burns, soon erupted across his body.

The fishman grinned slightly, whispering with his last breath before falling unconscious in defeat, "As I thought..."

Whitehead, on the other side, hadn't moved an inch since she executed her finisher attack, and for a moment, I could almost see her hair once again attaining the golden blonde it once had, before once again fading to the unearthly chalk white colour it had these days. It was almost sad, really.

"Amazing," said a familiar voice beside me, which interrupted my train of thought. I looked up to see the face that of Ginger. She had been present since a short while after I had had my share of fun. She seemed rather stunned by Whitehead's otherworldly techniques. Well, it had been a speed-battle and the rest had yet to finish theirs, so who's to blame her?

"Well, minding who taught her those techniques, it's no big surprise, really." And just as those words had left my mouth, I knew that I had said too much.

"Oh, really? Who was that then?" she wondered. An innocent question, but one that I could not answer, out of respect for my friend.

"Sorry, but that is not my story to tell. And please don't ask her about it; it's a sensitive subject."

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

I heard the sound of Sanji kicking Kuroobi through the park, which meant two down. Then I sensed Usopp, who had just returned from his battle with Chuu, which meant three. Then I saw the frikkin' whirlwind created by Zoro's finisher, which meant four down. Only Arlong left. And that fishman had just grabbed Kiribachi and had begun chasing Ruffy up the wall. True enough that I loved wall climbing, but that was just plain ridiculous. I smirked and picked up my sword, which had conveniently landed just a few metres from where I stood. I didn't sheath Sôzô-Ryoku for some reason, though. I guess I liked the weight of the scythe against my shoulder, it was comforting, in a strange sort of way. Well, who ever said that strange was bad?

Zoro and Sanji was starting to sit down by the wall, inside the park when I looked towards them again,which I clearly remembered was not a particularly good idea. Especially as random furniture had already started to fall from the cartography room. "Oi!" I called after them.

"What?" came the double reply. They really were in more sync than they would ever admit.

"We should get away from here, the building will crumble in a minute!"

This sent them _almost_ hurrying out of the grounds. I followed them at equal speed, that was, casual walking speed. With a content sigh, we sat down by a nearby building. Rather battered and with several broken bones, but victorious. All that remained was for Ruffy to finish off Arlong, and the park along with him. My whole body was in deep pain, but at the same time, I had never felt better. _'So, this is the feeling yo get right after a serious victory, huh? Too bad that the people of Earth seems to have forgotten all about it, the satisfaction that of true victory.'_ I sheathed Sôzô-Ryoku with a sigh. Now, the fun and bashing was over. There'd be a short break of partying before I'd have to start explaining things. And knowing my nakama, that could take a while. But right then, it was the furthest thing from my mind as I heard the roaring "ONOOO!" and the following collapse of the park, followed by silence. And then, excessive cheering as Ruffy emerged from the rubble, declaring Nami his nakama.

* * *

And there was much rejoicing.

Of course, there's always the party crashers. Always.

* * *

"That's quite enough, you scoundrels!" Captain Nezumi's annoying voice rang out and silenced the cheering as he spoke his evil, and incredibly stupid monologue. Seriously, only an idiot would do something like that in that kind of a situation. That's one more thing I hate about marines; their horrible sense of timing. "What a lucky day, indeed! We have witnessed everything from the very start. Who would have thought that the feared fishmen would be defeated by rookies like you?"

I and Zoro exchanged glances. The edge of his mouth curled upwards in a smirk, telling me he got my message. A wide, evil grin spread across my face. I really loved creeping people out. Still do.

"Thanks to you, all of Arlong's treasure are mine, all mine! The victory isn't yours, but mine, Captain Nezumi from the-" He halted in the middle of his speech as he felt a pale hand on his shoulder. He turned carefully around to look into my evilly grinning face with a crazed look in my eyes. Who ever said that I couldn't be intimidating when I wanted to? Naturally, being able to use _the voice_ helps a bit, although I doubt that it was necessary.

**PEOPLE ARE REJOICING. YOU ARE INTERRUPTING. PARTY CRASHERS ARE NOT APPRECIATED. **

Those who weren't terrified enough to faint on spot attempted to run away, but well, running from me is pretty futile, as long as I am not exhausted. Besides, I was hardly the only one eager to beat them up as they had stolen Nami's hard-earned savings and had been bribed by Arlong for years. In fact, we Strawhats barely had to lift a finger, as the villagers happily did most of the beating. Monster four merely piled them up.

"D-don't think you'll get away with this..." Nezumi somehow managed to squeeze out.

"Oh, he's still speaking," Ruffy noted with a neutral expression.

I swallowed the 'thank you, Captain Obvious'-retort as Nami put Hat back where it belonged, on Ruffy's head, and bent down and placed a hand on Nezumi's cheek and said, "For shooting Nojiko, and for wrecking Bellemere's mikan field," which was quickly followed up by a good rod-whack which sent him flying good, landing in the water.

This made Nojiko smile and say, "Thanks, Nami. That one felt great!"

"You hit him a thousand times more!" Genzo exclaimed, fully aware of the marine's corruption, especially as he was present when they tore up the mikan field.

Nezumi tried to climb up from the water, but hesitated when Nami grabbed his whiskers. "Now you'll clean up this mess, and you're not touching a single copper coin in Arlong Park, the money belong to the villagers. And then you're helping us to rebuild Gosa. And furthermore..."

"Yes, yes. I promise, I promise!" Nezumi whimpered, the pathetic man that he was.

Nami grew even more scary as she spoke her last demand of the long list. "Give me my money back!"

"Ok, Ok, I will, I will!" he screamed in panic before breaking loose and yelling again, now facing us. "Damn you, pirates, don't think you'll get away with this! There won't be a marine or bounty hunter that don't know your name after this!"

"How does he know that I'm gonna become the pirate king?" Ruffy asked to no one in particular, not really understanding what the guy meant, which Zoro pointed out.

"That wasn't what he meant, oi!"

"But hey, what if he's serious?" Usopp pointed out, being the one who actually thought things over, as usual.

"Well, I'd say it's about time," I said and yawned, stretching. "It'd be a pity if we entered the Grand Line without even a bounty on our heads. But now for something completely different."

Said and done, the villagers ran away head over heels, cheering their heads off, free from the tyrant at last. I enjoyed every second of it, as this was the first time I was actually allowed to enjoy the feeling of having won a difficult battle. However, it wasn't long before we had the doctor after us, and thus found ourselves in the hospital, getting patched up. Zoro in particular. Suddenly, Cat appeared out of nowhere. "You don't regret missing that duel? It sure was something to watch first-hand!" I understood that she meant Zoro's duel with Mihawk.

I smiled. "No. Sure,i have no doubt it was a duel for the records, but..." I sighed. "Last time _she_ took over, Butchi pressing Zoro against a wall was enough to trigger it. Imagine what that would have done. I know how important that duel was to him."

Cat smiled sadly and jumped up in my lap. "Good point. But let's not think of such things now."

"Ah, yes. Today is a day of celebrations. Might as well get some cake," I said and rose to leave.

Cat scurried after me. "Ah, but the cake is a lie."

I snickered. "Not this time. I hope."

* * *

And before long, the island-wide party was in full swing. A few eating competitions had erupted on scattered places throughout the village. Ruffy was happily dominating most of them. Usopp stood for a lot of the entertainment as he stood on top of a tower built out of piled-up furniture and told his adventurous tell-tales, which carried just a tad bit more truth than the ones he told before he joined us. Sanji was flirting with every girl in sight, and since he had beat Kuroobi, and thus helped in liberating the island, some of them actually paid him attention. Nami was nowhere to be seen. She was back at her house, saying goodbye. Last time I saw Cat, she was demonstrating some dance-machine with light shows and music that she built in a minute or something like that. Myself, I had just spotted another eating competition. Only that this one was a dessert eating competition. Never one to pass up on a mountain of sweets, I signed up. Not long afterwards, I sat by a wall, drinking mead, on a slight sugar rush, patting my stomach contentedly. It had been a challenge, but thanks to Ruffy being busy with a different eating competition elsewhere, I eventually emerged victorious. That was when I saw a familiar face approaching. It was the bartender from earlier. I waved and called for his attention. "Yo!"

He turned and immediately recognised me. "Ah, if it isn't Spade-chan."

A tic appeared on my forehead. "No '-chan'. _Please_. An' the name's Embla."

He paid the comment no mind. "You really surprised me there. I thought you were a bounty hunter."

I smirked widely. "Oh, but I did say that I wasn't, did I not?"

He grinned widely as he chuckled. "That's right, you did."

"Never judge a book by its cover," I said as I waved him goodbye. It was a rather unexpected meeting, but had widened the wide smirk on my face.

* * *

"Now, tell us already."

We had gathered in the kitchen of the Merry go. Almost a day had passed since we had set sail. I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, Cat in my lap as I turned my head to face Sanji. He stood by the kitchen counter, lighting one of his damned cigarettes. Don't get me wrong, now. He's a cool guy, as long as he does not go all mellorine, but I've never liked cigarettes. Zoro was sitting in the sofa, appearing half-asleep, arms folded behind him, but I knew that he was listening. Ruffy sat on a chair, wearing a blank expression, his black eyes staring straight at me. Usopp sat at the chair beside him, wearing a similar expression. Nami sat on the sofa, beside Zoro, only more interested in the others' incoming reactions than in my story, as she had heard it before. Cat purred silently as she had curled up in my lap, still a bit annoyed that I had decided to tell the story without asking her beforehand.

My raised eyebrows sank and I closed my eyes with a smirk. "Well, I guess I've kept you waiting long enough."

Zoro simply grunted in agreement while the others said nothing, patiently waiting for me to spill the beans. I took a deep breath and, for better or worse, begun to tell them the story of how I and Cat ended up in this world. "Now, where to start..."

* * *

"And then Zoro tapped my shoulder and asked if I could lend them some food money. As I was broke as well, we had to run like hell out of there, and then I came up with the brilliant idea that we ought to raid a nearby bandit fort for supplies. The rest is history."

To be frank, their expressions were hilarious. Sanji was wide-eyed and had even dropped his cigarette on the floor. Zoro had had a constant eye-tick throughout more than half the story. Usopp was gaping in disbelief and awe, probably because I had just told a story that even topped most of his in unbelievability. Ruffy was all starry-eyes, exclaiming "Awesome!" and believed me at once, to my great relief. Well, it wasn't such a great surprise, really. Nami was chuckling at their expressions. There was a moment of silence as they tried to process all of this. After a while, Sanji managed to say, "This is too weird..."

"That was almost exactly what Nami said," I told him with a smirk, but my eyes remained serious, showing no signs of that I might be joking.

Eyes now thoughtful, Zoro spoke. "Well, it would explain a lot."

I turned to smile at him. I knew he would understand. Zoro always understand.

After blinking for several seconds, a bit calmed down by Zoro's and Sanji's words, Usopp took his turn to speak. "So... You're saying that you know the future?"

I nodded, confirming this. "That's right, I do. Or, well.. a version of it, at least."

I saw the stars around Ruffy's face fade out and disappear as his expression turned serious, but Usopp didn't seem to notice this and went on. "So, this means that you know what adventures we'll go through, that you could warn us beforehand of dangers and scary stuff and stuff like that before it happens, right?"

I smirked, but didn't get to answer, as Ruffy did, now in Captain-mode. To be honest, his words didn't surprise me in the least. "No, I do not want to know of the future. Not a thing."

Usopp looked surprised and puzzled by Ruffy's reaction, but Zoro and Sanji understood his train of thought immediately. For me, it just sent me into one of my widest grins ever, which only grew as he explained. "Knowing what will happen makes the adventure boring, and a boring adventure is no adventure." Now, everyone had cracked up into wide smiles. That's our Captain, all right. Then he cracked up in a wide, face-splitting grin. "But that world sounds interesting! I wanna see it!"

I have to admit, that caught me kinda off-guard.

Cat seemed kinda cool about it for some reason, though. "I can't see why not, as long as you try to behave. Just remember that physics work slightly different there. You won't be as strong as you are here, and I'm not sure if Captain's rubber powers will work."

I just stared at her, wide-eyed, as if she'd gone crazy. First, she opposes my plan to tell them about Earth in the first place, and now she supports the idea of visiting the place. The simple equation of the Strawhats + Swedish mentality = utter Chaos was quickly calculated in my mind. But what the hey, Captain had decided, so there was no turning back now anyway. So I sighed and said, "Fine, fine, I just have to prepare some things first... I have to talk to my brother. Explain things, you know..."

"Yosh, that settles it!" Ruffy exclaimed and jumped up on the table, exited, fists in the air. "Next stop: Embla's home world!"

This was going to result in some major chaos, I thought to myself as I opened up the portal again, returning to my old room, my old home, to explain things. Again.

* * *

**There. Not the longest, and certainly not the best chapter so far, but I have had an overloaded schedule. Next up: The Stockholm arc! The Strawhats are going to visit some famous, and not-so-famous places in Sweden's Capital, and cause the usual overall chaos that normally emerges around the Strawhats. I have been looking forward to writing this arc for a while :3**

**Now, I have gotten a few SBS questions, so on to them.**

**From Seraphiel: ****I guess we shall, and maybe a couple of rounds of Warhammer40k eh? x3, as usual I loved the chapter, perhaps you could add more twist to the story as in things going bad when the crew least expects it :3. SBS: What does Embla think of Sanji smoking? **

**J: I do think that I explained this in this chapter. She dislikes cigarettes and the smell, and will attempt to get him to quit, but well, cigarettes are a part of his image, and she does like Sanji, despite what one might think, so she won't put too much effort into it. **

**From Henna89: Who named Cat? Since she calls everyone by what they are, so isn't it logical conclusion that she refers herself Cat, too. But she didn't reveal that she can speak until she already had a name, so how Embla gave that perfectly fitting name? Also, would you like to tell me the story how those two met each other, please?**

**J: This is a good question, Henna, and it really roots down to the model I used for Cat, which is my own little furball of a cat. They have entirely different personalities, but they look the same. And I based Cat's personality on overall Discworld and Coraline cat-ness. If you have read those books, you should know what I mean. What does this have to do with her name? Well, according to the Coraline book, cats don't have names, because they know full well who they are without anyone having to tell them, and calling a cat is something that one will find not just a little futile. They simply don't see the point of having a name. Terry Pratchett seems to share this opinion of cat-ness, and since both Embla and her brother are great fans of Terry, as I am myself, they adopted this way of thinking, and soon stopped calling her Yuffie and simply called her Cat, as she was the cat in the family. **

**And as of how they met, that is a story for another time. It will be told in due time, but not yet, no. **

**So, that's it for now. Tune in next week for the next chapter and finally, the appearance of Embla's older brother.**

**Så, ha det gött, Människor, Filurer och Könslösa varelser från yttre rymden!**

…

**That was just a weird goodbye I made up earlier today. It's too hard to translate, so I simply wrote it like that... What? I'm a weirdo you say? Well, damn straight I am! **


	18. Minor causes of annoyance

**Okay guys. First off: I am _really _sorry for the delay, but schoolwork takes priority, no matter what one might think of it. I had this six-page essay to write and schoolwork takes longer to write since you _have_ to do it. If i didn't have to, it would probably have gotten done faster... and got about ten times as long, but what the hey. Might upload a longer version of it someday. Well, It's done and I'm back in business... with a chapter where too little happens, but I wanted it done. The chaos will start next chapter. Oh, and _bold italics_ will be gods speaking from now on. Oh, yes, there will be gods too. I'm thinking that perhaps I should move this to the OP/Discworld crossover section... OwO' And just so that you know, this chapter contains a LOT of Discworld references. I hope you have read a lot of Discworld boos, people, or a lot of this chapter will make very little sense.**

**And if I owned one piece, or any of the other stuff that I refer to, hell would break loose, and the pics and char designs would not have got half as much awesome as they do.**

* * *

"ANNOYAAA!"

As I entered my room I immediately recognised the yelling voice as my brother. One word can say so much... He must have struggled with that drawer for quite some time if she actually had managed to get him annoyed. Cat following right behind me, I walked towards the kitchen, where I guessed he would be, minding his little outburst. And indeed, Brother stood in the kitchen, pulling on a drawer while a strange woman with fiery red hair who was smoking a strange, long cigarette that quite looked like a firecracker floated behind him with a snicker, chuckling to herself.

"Having fun, bugging my brother, Annoya?" I asked the woman. My brother, Frey, did not seem the least bit surprised to hear my voice, he just smirked to himself, looking relieved, more than anything. He didn't say anything though, knowing I was speaking with someone else, even if he was unable to see the person I was talking to. Well, it's not like this was a first time experience, me leaving and being gone for weeks, leaving nothing but a note.

The woman, Annoya, turned her head to face me as her eyes lit up in recognition. _**"Why, if it isn't the Cards-whiz. Been a while, how are things?"**_

I nodded slightly and smirked. "It has. And I'm better than I have been in much too long. I see you haven't gotten your volcano back."

She sighed and took a drag on her strange cigarette. _**"Sadly, no. I seem to have little luck on that matter. Well, I should get going. Take care, and tell Death I said Hi."**_

I gave her a casual wave and said, "I will," before she dissolved into reddish smoke and sailed out through the window, but I paid little attention to the disappearing goddess as I had come here to speak with my brother, not the Goddess of Things That Get Stuck In Drawers.

Frey now pulled out the drawer without any problem and sighed in relief. "Thanks sis, she's been bugging me for over five minutes now."

I narrowed my eyes in a sweatdrop expression. "You struggled with a drawer for over five minutes? Tell me, should I facepalm or pity you?"

He just laughed and caught me in a headlock, knuckling my head. Despite the pain, it felt good to see him again. "Where the hell did you run off to _this_ time, huh?"

I groaned slightly in his grip as I struggled to break loose, and while the grip gave me very little leverage, I had grown stronger since I joined the Strawhats, so I managed to break loose. "In a different dimension. And not Death's place for once," I said as I gasped for air and rubbed the aching spot on my head where he had knuckled me. He only raised an eyebrow. It took a lot to get him surprised or even the least bit worried. He was so awesome like that.

He smiled and folded his arms. "Mind sharing? You do seem a lot more cheerful that usual."

I smiled as I straightened up and started telling him, in detail, what had happened that snowy day that had changed the course of my life, and everything in between until the very moment I stepped through the portal for the second time. He remained silent for a few seconds after I finished the story, face neutral as he processed this before he spoke.

"What were cat doing injured in the forest?"

I shrugged. "Wish you could tell me. She has not told me anything about it."

"I'm right here, oi! You _could_ try and ask politely. I just might answer," came the slightly annoyed reply from under the table, by which we had sat down.

I raised an eyebrow at her as she jumped up on my lap. "Well then, what _were_ you doing, really?"

She gave me a mocking look as she settled down. "Nothing of any interest."

"See what I have to put up with?" I said to Frey as he just chuckled at the sight.

"_Not_ nice!" Cat shot back from my lap, from which she had to jump down from, leaving an annoying amount of fur behind, as I stood up from the chair.

"I guess I should head back and fetch the others. They're probably getting pretty impatient right now, knowing them."

"You do that," he said and stood up as well. "I'll go with you. I really want to see those portals, they seem interesting."

* * *

**Zoro's PoV**

To be honest, I didn't know what to think. Embla's story was unbelievable. So unbelievable that she just couldn't have made it all up. She wasn't stupid, no, many long hours of tactical cardgames had effectively proved otherwise, so I reasoned that if she _had_ made the whole story up, she would have come up with something a lot more believable than a far-fetched story like that. And maybe it was not the nature of the story as much as the look in her eyes that made me unable to doubt her. It had all been confirmed when she opened up that 'portal' or whatever she called it. This meant that she was, technically, an alien. From a different world, a different planet. Well, at least that explained how Cat could speak, and all of those strange inventions, I guess, although I wasn't too sure about that. Still, there were so many questions left unanswered. I still didn't know anything about that other, not-Embla. It bothered me. It bothered me to no end.

It was kind of unlike me, to have any interest in a person's past, and the very fact that I actually showed any interest in it in the first place was just another thing that disturbed my mid-day nap. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not deny that the girl had piqued my interest, albeit a bit more than necessary. So I decided to direct my thoughts on her homeworld. How did it look like? 'Different' she had said. 'Grey, monotone and "civilised".' That and something about the laws of physics working differently. I smirked at the thought. Different laws of physics? That was something to see.

* * *

"Ah, so this is the Merry-go, huh? It's bigger than I imagined."

The unfamiliar voice jolted me awake. Who the? And by the way, just what was he saying?

"You know, I thought the same thing when I first saw it. Funny, really. It looks so much smaller in the manga."

The second speaker however, was very familiar indeed. If Embla was friendly with whoever it was, it was a friend. But it bugged me that they spoke a language that I could not recognise or understand a shred of. Slightly annoyed by this fact I spoke up. "Oi, Embla. Back already?"

"OI! Everyone! Embla's back!" came Ruffy's exclamation from somewhere at the back of the ship.

The stranger raised an eyebrow. When I looked at the two of them, they shared more than a passing resemblance of each other, even if his hair was a golden blond, just a few tones darker than curly-brow, unlike the chalk white hair that Embla had. I suddenly felt stupid for not figuring it out earlier; even their voices resembled the other. That man had to be that older brother she mentioned earlier.

He turned to Embla with a questioning look, as if he didn't understand what we were saying, much like I had no clue what he had said. Embla's reaction was quite interesting. He lightly smacked herself in the head and sighed with a self-mocking smile, which made me figure that, even though I could not understand the words she spoke, she was calling herself an idiot. Then she climbed up in the crow's nest for some reason as the rest of the crew gathered to greet our returning nakama and the new arrival. When seeing this, Embla's brother mumbled something to himself. Something along the lines of "The Strawhats. In person. Mildly awesome." I could not even start to figure out what that could mean. I have to admit, the guy was, and is still, a damn riddle to read.

A distinctly clearer and mildly amused, while annoyed voice came from the crow's nest. "Then just what is 'officially awesome' then? Wait, don't answer. I have a feeling that I don't want to know." As she said this, whatever she said, she threw down that strange item she wore around her neck when she first joined up. I think she called them headphones or something. Then Curlicue showed up in my field of vision.

"Oi, algae-for-brains, what are they saying?"

I frowned in annoyance. "Che, can't you figure that out yourself, dart-brow?"

"Picking a fight, marimo?"

Irritation. "Bring it, ero-cook!"

Thus our usual fight begun, something that quickly was becoming habit. And so, it would have went on, had not Embla intervened.

"Oi! Ice-cream! Lawn-skull! Can't you at least knock it off when we've got a guest?"

She had a point, so I stopped. Curlicue stopped for the sheer reason that it was a woman asking him to and immediately went all 'mellorine', which was answered by a _'tock' _and Embla's annoyed voice. "Knock that off. You know I hate that."

Snapped out of his annoying womaniser-mode he glanced slightly at the throwing knife that had buried itself in the wall, half an inch from his skull. "Okay."

Embla's brother merely chuckled at the scene, which reminded everyone of his presence. Usopp's and Nami's stances quickly turned defensive which was returned by a friendly wave and words in a much more comprehensive language. "The name's Frey. Nice to meet you."

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

I have to say that, just a few weeks prior, I would have dismissed the idea of the Strawhats standing in my room as a silly dream. But now, somehow, that felt completely normal. Che, I really had changed these last few weeks. I turned to my nakama and gestured at the room we were standing in, my room. "so, this is my home. Or well, ex-home nowadays. Feel free to explore the place. Also, it's January, so there should be-" I halted for a second and glanced out the window. "There _is _a lot of snow. Gather at the dinner table in a few minutes, I need to get some maps."

And with that, everyone went off to do whatever they felt like doing for a while. Ruffy and Usopp had already gone outside the very moment I had mentioned 'snow'. Sanji and Frey were talking about food from our different worlds and cat had entered her little secret room in the wall, probably to retrieve a few of her more advanced devices back to the ship. Zoro seemed to show some interest in my collection of One Piece books and was looking through one of the earliest ones, mumbling thoughtfully. Even if he probably did not understand the text, the pictures were certainly enough for someone who knew what happened better than anyone. I was about to go speak to him about it when Nami caught me. She had noted my mention of maps and that had caught her interest, so we went to look at some atlases.

Some time later we'd all gathered in the dining room, do decide what places we would go to. But first I felt that I had to show them a few maps of earth and show them just how big the cities here were.

"Here," I said, spreading out the world map, "Is a full world map of Earth." To my great relief, everyone, including Ruffy, were paying attention. "And this," I went on and pointed at one half of the small, hook-like land mass in the northern Europe, "is Sweden, the country we are currently in." I then unfolded a map of Sweden and pointed to the bulge of land at the eastern coast, where Stockholm, capital of Sweden is located. "This is Stockholm, the capital, and where we are currently located." While I folded up a map of Stockholm, Nami spoke up.

"So detailed... there sure are some amazing mapmakers here."

I chuckled at that, but Frey answered. "They are mostly made from satellite pictures and the like, edited by computers. Little is drawn by hand these days."

"Satellite pictures?" came the simultaneous reply from all gathered aliens. Huh? Well, they aren't from earth, so technically, they're aliens here, yeah? ...Which means that _I'm_ an alien back there... Mind-boggling.

"Satellites are a kind of device that is flying high up in the sky, above the atmosphere. They can be used for a ton of stuff," I explained, trying to put it as simple as possible.

"And computers?" Usopp asked.

I thought for a while, thinking of how to define them in a simple sense. I soon found it futile.

"Just think of them as a network of thinking machines," Frey offered. Ut wasn't entirely true, but close enough.

"Anyway," I said, trying to return to the original topic, "This is Stockholm."

"That's pretty big," Sanji commented. He seemed to have a few bruises from the minor fight with Zoro earlier, who seemed to have a few too, which was one suspicion confirmed.

I nodded and pointed at a tiny rectangle at the northern part of Stockholm. "And this is our house right here. Thought it might give some perspective of size."

All but Ruffy and Zoro, both of which were unable to read maps, silently processed the information. Then, Sanji spoke. "How long does it take to walk across one edge of the city to the opposite?"

That got me thinking. To be honest, I'd never given it much thought. On the other hand, it seemed that my brother had. "This distance," he said and measured about ten centimetres on the map, "takes about half an hour to walk across in a quick pace. An hour and a half at casual speed. Luckily, we have faster ways about than that."

Before anyone could ask anything about it, I interrupted. "Before we decide anything, there's something that I need to confirm." And with that I grabbed Ruffy's cheek and pulled. At first, they gave me a few odd looks, but it was when his cheek _didn't_ stretch that they jawdropped. (Reactions didn't get as extreme here either.) Well, except for Frey, who merely raised an eyebrow, and Ruffy himself, as he always reacted rather slowly.

"Ow, what was that for?" he whined, rubbing his cheek. The rest of us just waited for him to catch on. "Wait... I didn't stretch! What the hell?"

"_Slow!"_

"So," Sanji said, pulling out a cigarette," Devil powers don't work here."

"Eeeh?" Came Ruffy's shocked and slightly disappointed reaction.

"So it seems," I said calmly, expecting this. Devil's fruits are physically impossible on Earth, after all. "You might have noticed that the laws of physics work differently here," I went on. "For example; Gravity is stronger here so you won't be as fast as normal, high falls will hurt a lot more and things will be a lot heavier. Also, in this world your physical strength will be about a tenth of your normal capability and also, possibly most importantly; the power of Story is not as strong here."

"That explains why I felt heavier than normal," Zoro mumbled slightly. I should have expected him to take notice.

Usopp seemed more interested in my last statement, though. "What do you mean, 'the power of story'?"

I paused for a while, trying to rack my brain for some quotes. When I could not remember any good ones I rubbed my temples in concentration, trying to figure out how to explain that matter. Frey understood what I was trying to remember and went to get _The Science of Discworld_, but then Cat started to recite from memory.

"The spread of a meme is much like the spread of a disease. And just as you can protect yourself against some diseases, by taking the right precautions, you can also protect yourself against becoming infected with a meme. The ability to think critically, and to question statements that rest on authority instead of evidence, are quite effective defences. This is our message to you. You need not be a victim of the power of story, like Vorbis the Quisitor, smitten by an earthbound tortoise, the Wrath of Om. You can be Granny Weatherwax, sailing through story-space like a master navigator, attuned to every breath of narrative wind (and a lot of it is, mark you), tacking against the gale like a maverick, avoiding the Shoals of Dogma and the Scylla and Charybdis of Indecision... Sorry, we got carried away. What we mean is: if you understand the power of story, and learn to detect abuses of it, you might actually deserve the appellation _Homo Sapiens._"

Not even halfway through, all aliens but Nami looked like living question marks. Usopp said, "Sorry, you lost me there. About halfway..."

Ruffy caused a mass-facefault with his trademark line. "So, it's a mystery world."

"_NO SHIT!_"

Nami ignored the usual comedy routine and said, "Makes sense. It's just like _Witches Abroad,_ Isn't it?"

As a reply to this, Frey hit me over the head with the book he had fetched earlier. "Sis, you are corrupting them."

I groaned, rubbing the spot where he hit me with a sigh. "What's to stop me?"

Everyone edged away from me slightly wen I said that.

Ignoring them, I returned to the matter at hand. "Anyway, I have a few suggestions of places where we could go."

"Well, you know what? I'mma head back to the ship. There's nowhere interesting here for me anyway and someone needs to guard the ship, especially now that we're wanted," Cat pointed out and walked away. I simply nodded and went on to the list of interesting paces we could go, ways of travelling and why we had to disguise ourselves and keep a low profile. Somehow, I had to keep this pack of troublemakers from causing more than minor trouble, if only for today.

Otherwise, well, things would get annoying. If not for us, then definitely for my brother.

* * *

**Aand that's it for this time!**

**Thought that I should probably clarify: Embla and Frey's native language is Swedish, and even though I write what they say in English because I don't exactly want to hide what they are saying, they are talking in Swedish to each other until Embla hands Frey her headphones/brain-messing device. Ya, it's not a translator, really. It messes with your brain, making you learn any language you hear. Handy, but can get annoying after a while, which is why Embla has stopped using it to avoid learning random languages out of nowhere. Anyway, Frey and Embla are speaking Swedish when the rest of the crew does not understand what they are saying and the people in Sweden will not be able to understand what the Strawhats are saying because they are speaking Japanese. Nami is the only one of the original Strawhats that has joined so far that can speak English. Thought I ought to explain to avoid unnecessary confusion regarding language and the headphones. Also, Frey will not be joining the crew, even if he will make random appearances in the future.**

**I have only gotten one question this time, but I'll answer it anyway.**

**From Seraphiel:****Epic, that is the word that defines this chapter x3 If you guys(readers) have a high visualisation ability, you'll know what I mean ^^. As you've said, I'm really looking forward to the Stockholm arc, it'll be totally hilarious! XD. Yeah, I've been having shitloads of homework too really, hope you'll get some rest soon ^^. No real CC from me since this chapter is running really smoothly ^^. SBS: Since the Strawhats are going to visit Stockholm, how are they going to communicate with the others since they speak Japanese, note Embla uses the translator built by Cat but what about her brother? **

**J: This will be revealed in the next chapter, and was mostly revealed in this, but I could just as well explain now. S' not as I'm gonna lose anything on it. They will split up in three groups, and in each one there will be at least one that can communicate with people. (Frey, Embla and Nami, that is.) They will act as interpreters. There will be a few more things to this, but I do not want to spoil Ruffy madness.**


	19. Of Seriousness and Running

**Heere I am! What, don't say you thought I'd permanently revert to a two-weeks plus release schedule. Time between releases increasing spells incoming doom for a fic, and I ain't gonna give up on this for a long time yet! Not until I've completed it. I hope. And think. In any case, now here's the second chapter of the Stockholm arc!**

**I only own Cat, Embla, the inter-dimensional glove and Sôzô-Ryoku (And a bunch of future weapons and high-tech devices that Cat will create) and finally, the recipe of the mix. All other ingredients belong to others, I merely borrow them for entertainment purposes**

* * *

Travelling by bus with the gang had been... an interesting experience, but not as troublesome as I'd imagined it to be. Well, that is, that was after Ruffy calmed down somewhat and settled for observing the scenery instead of bouncing around in the bus like a maniac. And when Nami asked the driver about just how this moving metal-box worked, she received nothing but 'quite' a few odd glances, which resulted in me and Frey having to use all our strength to calm her down and keep her from beating the living daylights out of the driver and nearby passengers. All in all, not as bad as it could have been. And please, don't make me even think of re-telling what I had feared it would be like. It gives me the chills just thinking about thinking about it. Gah.

And you can imagine how bad the distance we travelled by the underground was. Ok, sure, the time we spent in the train itself wasn't so bad, just Usopp and Ruffy running across the aisle, fooling around. No, it was the escalators that were the problem. Those two were fooling around in them, especially the ones going in the other direction, to such an extent that the guards almost threw us out. But thanks to Nami delivering the Fists of Feminine Fury upon their skulls, they calmed down and gained a grand black eye each. Since we were in this world, I almost felt sorry for them. Almost. They deserved it. Well, at least the disguises were working so far. We had only received a few vaguely recognising glances. No causes of star-struck-ness. But on the other hand, it wasn't as if we'd entered the 'nerd-blocks' yet, and only Zoro and myself were going to venture deep into those parts of the city.

So, yeah. The disguises. It had required massive amounts of persuasion, but I had managed to get Sanji to wear something very different from his trademark attire, somehow. It had been a challenge, but with Nami's help I had managed to convince Sanji to wear casual clothing and to comb his fringe the other way, since a fewer amount of people would recognise him with that post-TS look. Thanks to Earth's stricter laws of physics, his mellorine-mode would get tuned down, which helped. However, I had been unable to make him quit smoking, if only for today. Smoking was a part of Sanji, so I couldn't really do all that much about it.

Zoro, being the stubborn blockhead he can be at times, was an even greater challenge to convince, especially when it came to the issue of his swords. But when I told him about the issue of _crazy fangirls_ , he agreed on carrying them in a guitar-bag. He ended up wearing a rather plain black jacket and a hat to cover his trademark green hair. The rest was his usual attire.

Usopp was quite willing to comply with the idea of getting undercover, but his major problem was his nose. There was in fact very little I could do about that issue at all. Well, at least he wasn't going with me and Zoro, so it would probably be OK. I hope.

Nami's disguise was a rather simple thing to make successful as her looks didn't stand out as much, in comparison. Besides, she fully understood and supported the idea of getting undercover and fixed her own disguise. I had no hand in putting it together, really.

Ruffy had his policy, and as we all know, he is easily the most strong-willed out of us, so it took some psychology to get him to disguise himself. Even if he wasn't going anywhere near the otaku-areas, he is the Ruffy, which should explain enough for you to understand why it was highly important that he especially got undercover. Through a _LOT_ of persuasion from all Strawhat members plus Frey, and me having to use _the voice, _we somehow managed to persuade him to leave Hat at home. And to wear longer jeans. And proper shoes. At the tiny little cost of allowing him to eat a lesser mountain of meat when we got back to the merry-go.

"So, it's decided, then," Nami said after giving the two troublemakers a severe beating. "I and Sanji-kun will go shopping."

This was punctured slightly by an ecstatic "Mellorine, whatever you command, Nami-swan!"

Nami, unaffected by this little interruption went on as if nothing happened. "Ruffy, Frey and Usopp will go explore the more amusing parts of the city,"

" Yahoo!" came the enthusiastic cheer from our captain.

" and Zoro and Embla will go to Dragon's Lair[1]. Any questions?"

Both me and Zoro smirked in confidence. Zoro because he was certain that he would finally beat me in cards (as if) and I was looking forward to a good round of games. Perhaps I would introduce the swordsman to a few other games while I was at it.

We were currently at the central station and were just abut to go our separate ways to rendezvous later at a medieval restaurant called 'The Sixth Barrel', where my favourite jester group, Jauvet[2] would host a show. Knowing them, it would probably be a hilarious one.

Then I remembered something. "Nami, I have one. A question, I mean," I said. "Do you know about the different currency value here?"

She frowned. "Oops. Seems like I missed that."

" Nami-swan is so wonderful when she's forgetful!"

Ignoring the noodle-dancing, smoking cook, I explained. "One beli is the equivalent on one Yen, and one hundred Yen is about seven point five Swedish Crowns. It seems that all currency get converted upon passing through the portal, so it should be no need to go and convert it to Crowns."

Nami brightened up. "fourteen crowns is two hundred beli, got it!"

" Oh, and Nami," I added, wanting to spare several store clerks severe pain. "Haggling is a no-no here. Thought you might want to know."

I rarely se Nami jawdrop. This was one of those rare cases. "Say what?"

I merely smirked. "You heard me." Then I turned to everyone. "Well, then, see you at The Sixth Barrel at seven."

* * *

We were walking down the road towards the Gamer's Lair, as I like to call it. In my head I was planning out a battle plan when my thoughts strayed to my unusually quiet companion. Sure, Zoro was quite the silent type, but I knew him pretty well by now and I could tell something was bothering him, and had been for a while. I was just about to ask him about it when he decided to bring the matter up himself.

" Embla?"

" Hm?"

" I saw those books you were talking about. They really did tell what was going to happen, only-"

" Without me, I know." I shot in with a smirk, which hid a slight sliver of sadness. "Couldn't resist, could you?"

He ignored the slight hint of amusement in my voice. I could see that he was not in the mood for joking. "I... took a peek in one of the later books and-" He halted himself here slightly, taking a breath to compose his words a bit, but I didn't notice back then. I just raised an eyebrow with a slight smile.

" Really? Which one?"

" There was a great war."

My smirk immediately fell. "Oh."

" And Ruffy was alone."

I stopped walking, fringe shadowing my eyes, silent.

" Embla, tell me. Who was that man who died in Ruffy's arms?"

Of all of the scenes he could have seen, it had to be that one. Now my mood was completely and totally ruined. A pained smile slowly crept up my face. After a deep breath I somehow managed to gather myself enough to speak. "That was... Portgas D Ace, Second Division commander of the Whitebeard pirates, and..." I clenched my teeth. This was a sensitive subject. It had been bad enough to read those chapters, and even worse to watch those anime episodes, but... Now that I had an actual relationship with one of the brothers, the pain intensified tenfold. It didn't exactly matter that it hadn't happened yet. It became so much more real. With a great strain of effort, I managed to complete the sentence. "That Ace is also Ruffy's sworn brother."

* * *

There was a moment of silence between us that followed my story. After a while, Zoro thoughtfully spoke up.

"Two years?"

I sighed and nodded. "The separation is, sadly, unavoidable, as I see it, and the two years of training following is highly necessary for the story. Besides, the Power of Story is more powerful than I first thought, so there's no changing that."

Zoro raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Really?"

I nodded. "I tried to change things slightly in the Arlong arc, but it was to no avail." It felt like a mental dam had broken somewhere in my mind. I'm not sure when, but soon after Zoro told me that he had seen that scene, the dam started to crack. Now it just welled up. The things I'd been pondering since I'd entered the One Piece world, since I became a Strawhat. It felt good, being able to talk with someone about these things. And for some reason, I hadn't been to surprised that that someone had been Zoro.

" It has to be something we can do about it," he argued, and I couldn't help but wanting to agree.

I poked my forehead in deep thought. There was no longer much depression in our conversation, only seriousness and calm reasoning. The discussion had more of the character of a casual discussion between friends than anything.

" Well, I suppose," I said, thinking so hard I could almost hear the gears turning. "It is such a major point in the plot, though, so don't get your hopes up."

I was replied by a look of determination that I knew all too well. It was the look of someone willing to defy the impossible, and was more than capable of doing that, too. And he knew he could. I knew he could. I sighed with a slight smile.

" Well, fine. I'll make a few more experiments and try to formulate a plan, but I can't promise anything but that I'll do my best. The story is strong, but I'll se what I can do."

He grunted in slight amusement. "Better, but that's 'what _we _can do'. Don't you dare count me out."

I chuckled and we had a silent agreement to drop the topic.

For now.

And we wouldn't breath so much as a word to the others about this, except to possibly Cat.

I stretched and yawned. We'd stood in the middle of the street during the whole conversation. It was a miracle that no one had recognised us.

" Ahh, now y game-mood is completely ruined," I sighed. "I can't play like this. Let's go do something else."

Zoro let out a mocking chuckle. "You're just afraid I'll win."

I smirked. He was trying to provoke me, it was so obvious. Well, Embla ain't going to take the bait. "I wouldn't say, but I can't play games with this in the back of my mind. Let's play later instead. I wanna go to the Sci-Fi Bookstore."

Sighing in slight annoyance, he followed me as I'd already begun walking. "Bookstore? What for?"

I smirked. "They sell some awesome books and even more awesome games there."

His smirk widened as he walked up beside me. "But you know, backing down from a challenge means that I won."

I snickered. "Keep telling yourself that. I might buy it when you've actually beaten me _once,_ " I teased and stuck out my tongue.

A rather large tic-mark appeared on his forehead because of this. "Why you..."

I just chuckled.

* * *

I stood in the Pratchett corner, looking for the one Discworld novel that I didn't have; I Shall Wear Midnight. Zoro stood beside the bookcase, leaning against the wall, seemingly very bored. We had already picked out a bunch of games from the upper floor it was six a clock; one hour until we were supposed to meet outside The Sixth Barrel. The restaurant was only a few blocks away, so we were in no hurry.

I looked through the collection of books with a thoughtful smile. Fiction. Nothing more. Still, the stories were just as real as my bored friend who stood beside me. After all, I had met quite a few of the people within those books personally, all thanks to _Him._ While connected to a lot of bad memories of mine, _he _was still a good friend of mine. And thanks to him, I had learned that fiction was so much more than only imagined stories written on an awful lot of paper. So much more than they seemed. Yes, if it weren't for Death, I probably would have reacted very differently indeed back then, when Cat first spoke to me. Heh, in fact, if it wasn't for him, I'm not sure that I'd still be here, alive. I'd probably would have taken my own life ages ago. It's quite ironic, though, Death being your saviour.

"Oi, Embla!" Zoro's words snapped me out of my little reminiscing of the past. "Are you done yet?"

I was about to answer with an affirmative when I noticed two girls nearby who seemed to recognise Zoro's voice.

" Wait, didn't that guy sound just like Kazuya Nakai?"

" Indeed! But, Nakai doesn't look like that... heeyy, waiiit..."

I froze. Then blinked. This was bad. Really bad.

" Oi, what's wrong?"

I heard a mumble of "Yep, definitely him." I quickly snatched the book that I was going to buy and did my best to remain calm while dragging Zoro to the counter to pay for out stuff. We needed to get the hell out of here.

Zoro, annoyed from being dragged around and unable to understand what the natives here were saying, growled in annoyance. "What's the big idea?"

Whispering, I said, "Those girls were catching on." Zoro's eyes widened in surprise, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was Zoro, and it is a well-established fact that Roronoa Zoro is as hard as flint stone, there would be a slight hint of fear in there somewhere.

I glanced around. Shit, people were looking this way, and I could see the recognition in their eyes, accompanied by slight confusion. I swiftly paid for our stuff, and was quite surprised by the clerk's comment, but ignored it and left the store. This was definitely one of the most dangerous spots In the whole city. About 80% of the people that dwell about in the store (the customers, about 90% of the staff) and about 60% of the people that dwelled in this part of the city were otakus. Otakus meant that a few of them were obsessed fangirls, and only a few were enough to creep _me_ out, so I can imagine how Zoro, the target of the fangirl-ism, felt about it.

I though we could catch out breath for a while when we were a few blocks away, but then, naturally, a strong gust of wind just had to blow by right there and then, catching Zoro's hat.

Which resulted in us having to run for it. Or, well, at least Zoro had to, but for some reason, I could feel a bit of the creepiness directed towards me, and I guessed it was rage and jealousy, most probably. Besides, I couldn't leave him on his own, with his sense of direction.

That day I learned something. Something that I had already deeply suspected before.

Crazy fangirls are scary.

Crazy fangirls chasing you is even scarier.

And getting lost because of it, is immensely annoying.

* * *

**[1] Dragon's Lair is the largest (and the best) gaming centre in Sweden. Great place, take it from me. **

**[2] Jauvet is Swedish, with a Gotland accent, and means 'I know'. Great name, if you ask me. Jauvet is an actual Jester group that was, sadly, disbanded in august last year. Pity, they were AWESOME. Even if they claimed they sucked.**

* * *

**What? You expected fighting? Hell, they don't need to fight in every arc, you know. In this arc I wanted to include a few things, and fighting isn't one of those things. You'll have to wait until Loguetown for that. :3 Oh, and all of the places that they visit exist in real Stockholm. And personally, I prefer the books they sell at the SF Bookstore before the games, even if they're awesome too, but Embla's an incurable gamer. I'm not **_that_ **bad. Oh, and curious about that clerk's comment? I will reveal what it was in the next chapter. Now for the SBS!**

**Even though I've only received one question, but it's a good one!**

**From Seraphiel: Won't Cat be bored guarding the ship alone? ): **

**J: This is Cat we're talking about. She'll be tinkering, or sleeping. She'll probably have created something crazy by the time they return. But CID won't appear yet for some time, though.**

**Well then, until next time!**


	20. Of Fudge and Barrels

**Nothing fancy to note, really. A bit of a different character on this chapter. A lot of crack. Hope you like it. **

**First time I write Usopp PoV. And Sanji. Hope that I got them somewhat right. **

**Standard disclaimers apply**

* * *

**Usopp's PoV**

After several hours, I had still been unable to get used to this Frey fellow. He was, to put it mildly, strange. I guess it goes to show that he was Embla's brother, and it was no wonder she turned out like she did. If not even the Great Usopp, who outsmarted a hundred math professors in his sleep could wrap his finger around the guy, there was only one conclusion to make: he was… And here I must halt myself. I'd like to call him insane, but at the same time, he was the sanest man I'd ever met. That's it! He was much too _sane._ Too calm. Too collected. He didn't even bat an eye when Ruffy came up with the brilliant idea to climb on the roof of the Skyview**[1]** of the Globe, which was a gigantic, spherical arena. Seriously. I mean, sure, that is a completely normal thing for Ruffy to do, but due to several circumstances, climbing up a giant, spherical building with next to zero footholds smells like an unusually bad idea, especially if you are _not_ a rubberman, only has about a tenth of your usual strength and gravity is stronger than it should be. But of course, the genius does it anyway, because that's what Ruffy _do_. And Frey doesn't even react.

But on the plus side, he did catch him when he almost fell.

But I guess it wasn't that bad, compared to the amusement park we went to before that. Apparently, they were open during a short period in the winter too.

We started off with a calm ride on the teacups. Or well, 'calm' doesn't exactly cut it when you're with Ruffy.

I don't think I have ever been as dizzy as I was after that ride.

Next, we went on a roller coaster. I think it was called the 'Wild Mouse'. And wild it was. I mean, the ride itself was awesome and all, but then, suddenly, the freaking rail broke. And we fell through a roof. It hurt _way_ more than it should have done. What, if I was afraid? Hah, the great Usopp-sama with eight thousand followers is never afraid! A small impact like that is not nearly enough to defeat my legendary bravery and strength!

I think I broke an arm and a few ribs, though.

And Ruffy just laughed through the whole thing as if it was the greatest thing ever. I seriously cannot understand that guy sometimes.

And Frey seemed completely unmoved by the whole ordeal and just calmly chuckled it off. Bastard.

On the plus side, we got our money back and were allowed to ride whatever we wanted to for free as an apology, though.

Of course, Ruffy thinks it's a brilliant idea to ride the 'Blue Train' next, which was the amusement park's horror tunnel.

Just my luck.

Not that any ghosts or monsters would be enough to frighten me, of course. Why, when I was only twelve I met a huge, purple monsterthe size of a skyscraper with teeth like claymores and eyes! Its EYES! They were the size of _TREES!_And it had _five_ of them! I met it while I was traveling the seas. It was terrorizing a kingdom of talking moles, at which I had docked at. They told me about their distress, and being the kind, brave hero as I am, I decided to…

Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. (Hey, guys! Stop glaring at me!)

So we rode the 'Blue Train', and boy, the monsters in there! It was dark, darker than the deepest cave. We couldn't even see our outstretched hand in front of us! Then, suddenly, a huge, green monster with its eyes on stalks and teeth like Embla's daggers jumped forward, out of nowhere! It looked distinctly alien. But since we were on a different planet, I guess that wasn't all that off.

Frey and Ruffy were scared to silence. But, being the brave, strong warrior that I am, I had to protect my comrades from the monstrosity so i-

**Frey's PoV**

Now wait just a minute, that's _not_ how it went. When the monster appeared, you screamed for your life, while Ruffy completely obliterated the poor papier-mâché monster. I laughed through the whole thing. Seriously, I think you guys made the other visitor's day, you know. There is a part of the track that exits the building and goes by the line, showing the rider's reactions to them. I doubt you remember it, though. You were screaming like a girl through the whole ride, snot coming through your nose, your eyes rolled back-

**Usopp's PoV**

Oi, Frey! The readers didn't need to know that!

So, anyway, I'm sure the staff wasn't all that happy about having, after our visit, or Ruffy's visit, five in total of their attractions partially or completely wrecked.

**Frey's PoV**

Oh, but look at it from the bright side; it could have been a lot worse.

**Usopp's PoV**

Well, I guess but _stop interrupting me, _damn it!

**Sanji's PoV**

Well, that's too bad, because now it's mine and the ever-gorgeous Nami-swan's turn! Now, let's ignore the long-nose's grumbling and move on to what happened with me and the Angel Descended Upon Earth to become the Guiding Light of these morons, Nami-swan~. Now, I could go on forever on just how wonderful Nami-swan is, but I'm getting quite a bunch of angry glares bored into my back here, so it might be for the best if I just moved on…

We didn't have any particular place that we were going to, so Nami-swan decided to go shopping. She had asked Embla-chwan-

[Throwing knife comes flying]

Sorry. She had asked Embla earlier about which fashion stores were worth visiting, so we started off at-

**Zoro's PoV**

Yeah, yeah. We get it. You went shopping for clothes and you ended up carrying it all, slave that you are. What's so interesting about that?

**Embla's PoV**

"What was that, marimo?"

"Bring it, ero-cook!"

And let's leave those two simpletons to their meaningless squabble and return to the things that are of interest. From what Nami told me, nothing of notable interest happened during their shopping trip, so writing about it would only bore you. So, where were we? Yes, we had just managed to get away from the mob of rabid fangirls. What those kinds of people got out of chasing celebrities like that, I'll never know. Seriously, people should use their common sense more.

Perhaps we should have visited during an anime convention instead. We would have easily got off as unusually skilled cosplayers. And then I'd have to be the one to 'disguise' myself. Man, we have to try that some time…

Anyway, to our great un-luck, we had been running into an area that I wasn't all that familiar with, which was troublesome, as I hadn't brought any map. And it was less than twenty minutes until we were supposed to meet with the others at the Sixth Barrel. This was a bother, since I did not, under any circumstances want to miss Jauvet's show. And before I knew it, I was humming one of their most famous songs, 'In The Trade of Jester'**[2]**

Zoro raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about it. But after having wasted another five minutes being lost, he spoke up. "Oi, are we there yet? We are in a hurry, aren't we."

The last statement wasn't a question. I sighed slightly, with a smile. "Yeah, we are. Soon, we'll be late for the show, and I wouldn't like that. But unfortunately, it seems that we are lost."

Zoro sweatdropped. "But this is your _hometown!_ How the hell does one get lost in one's own hometown?"

I felt a ting of slight annoyance. "I already told you, this city's _big._ And I've never been in this part of the city before!"

He sighed in annoyance, which were, according to his tone and expression, not directed at me, but at the situation in general. "Well then, what should we do?"

I sighed and hung my head slightly. "Oh, I don't kno-" I halted myself, suddenly remembering something. Cat had introduced quite a good way of handling things last time we had got lost. I smirked mischievously and turned to my green-haired companion. "Which way would you say it is?"

He gave it a few seconds of though, then turned to the right. "This way."

Which meant it was to the left. I quickly grabbed his hand, ignoring the warm feeling spreading from it that my third thought made an attempt to make me aware of, and dragged him the opposite way of where he was going. He was a brilliant compass, he just pointed in the opposite direction.

* * *

It was late at night, and we were about to return home. Or, rather, I was about to return. The others were already on the Merry-go, giving me and Frey some time to talk in private.

Smiling one of those mysterious smiles of his, he ruffled my hair and said, "I'm glad."

I raised an eyebrow slightly, not even uttering the 'what for' out loud. He could hear it anyway.

His smile grew wider, the mysteriousness almost gone, replaced by genuine happiness for my sake. "That my little sister has finally found her place in the worlds."

I chuckled slightly. Worlds. Plural. "Yeah, I am too."

Then his smile got all mysterious again. "Roronoa Zoro, eh? Never would have thought…"

I gave him a puzzled look, not catching what he hinted at. "What of Zoro?"

He chuckled. "Nevermind. You should write a logbook."

I raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of subject, urging him to explain what he meant.

"Yeah," he said, smiling thoughtfully. "Since you are with those guys, I can't really bring myself to worry, so you don't have to write me letters. But a logbook, on the other hand, it would be quite interesting for me to read. One written by all of you." His smile then widened, teeth showing. "Your road to Godspeed."

I smiled slightly at the mention of my old, silly childhood dream that I had almost forgot. I clutched my necklace, the one I had worn around my neck ever since I left to the One Piece world. The one that had been a gift from my old friend. Nowadays, the dream didn't seem so impossible anymore. I raised my head to meet my brother's gaze, heart now filled with determination. "Sure, I can do that. But they'll be in novel format."

"Then take this with you, will ya?" he said and turned around to pull out a black backpack from a wardrobe. I opened it and immediately burst into a wide grin. Inside it was two thick books, without any text in them. Yet. That, and a whole bunch of my favorite, Indonesian ginger fudge. I closed the bag and hung it over my shoulder before hugging my brother tightly.

"Thanks. A lot."

He smiled heartily and returned the embrace. "Don't mention it."

Not even bothering to ask when the hell he had bought all of this stuff, knowing that I'd never get a straight answer, I pulled away and said, "Well, why don't you come along, then?"

He shook his head. "Ruffy already asked me to join, but I won't. The life of a pirate is not the life for me."

I stuck out my tongue childishly. "I know that, you lazy-ass, but that wasn't what I meant. You were with us today, so you should also write in the logbook about today. I'm hardly asking you to join."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. I wouldn't trust Ruffy and Usopp with our part."

I nodded, chuckling as well. He had a point. Usopp would over-exaggerate, making himself appear the hero, and Ruffy wouldn't write at all. And so, we both returned to the Merry-go, with some added luggage.

Two empty books, half a ton fudge, and a dream that I had nearly forgotten.

* * *

**[1] Basically something of a combination of a lift and a Ferris wheel. It's a lift running along the outside of the globe, giving a 'skyview'. It's a silly name, I know. I didn't name it. I woulda named it 'the Ferris Elevator' or something. **

**[2] You can find the song on YouTube. Just search for 'In the trade of Jester' and 'Jauvet'**

* * *

**Not my longest chapter ever, but I hoped it cracked you up. It sure cracked me up. Chapter 21 should be released in just a few days as it is almost finished already. **

**So, this concludes the Stockholm arc. And if you thought this was chaotic, just you wait until Escher Island! And not to mention, the introduction of CID! **

**I always enjoy reading my readers' speculations of what will happen in the future of this fic, and about Embla's past, or just speculations at all. So if you have guesses, feel free to post them if you want, as reviews or PMs, it doesn't matter. I always enjoy reading them. ^^ The same goes if you have crazy suggestions. I'm not Oda, and I appreciate suggestions and ideas. So yeah, I always love to hear your opinions, guys. **

**So, yeah. Be prepared for some serious WTF moments in the future, but you'll have to be patient for them. I have a ton of surprises prepared for you guys.**

**So, until next time! Have fun, or else!**


	21. The Uselessness of Gods

**Ok, this chapter might not be the best one I've written, but on the other hand, it is twice as long as the last one, so I hope that you'll enjoy it. And again, I hope I got **_**Him**_** right enough.**

**I did have an unusually hard time capturing their characters this chapter, so I just thought I'd issue a warning for possible, slight OOC-ness, but I hope that it's not that bad...**

**Been a while since I had wavering confidence in my fic, geese...**

**(You: Ouch J, That one was **_**bad.**_

**Me: I know it sucked, so shut the fuck up.)**

* * *

We were back at the ship, and Frey had gone back home. We had all enjoyed a good night's sleep and we were now back on track. Proof of this was that Nami was currently complaining over the raised cost of the newspaper, Usopp was developing his Tabascoboshi and Ruffy was trying to steal one of Nami's mikan, with no luck since Sanji was guarding the grove.

Zoro and myself were playing Race, as per usual. But this time, two more had joined in. One of these two were Cat, who had decided to take a break from tinkering with my shoes that she had stolen earlier. I still hadn't got them back. The other one was on a surprise visit, and I have to say that I was quite surprised to see that Zoro could see him. That Ruffy could wasn't that big of a surprise, though. The others, on the other hand, were convinced that we were going insane, talking to the air. They also kept a good distance from us. Well, it's not as if I could blame them. He gave off that kind of ominous air about that repelled even the bravest of men. I had developed a sort of immunity through the years, though. He was really nice, actually, once you get to know him. Very few has the chance, though, which is a pity. And thus, the rest of the crew decided to avoid us as being around our visitor gave them strange chills down their spines. Despite not even being able to see him.

**HOW PECULIAR.**

"I have to admit, this is the first time I see this happen," Zoro agreed.

I nodded, having counted about four times now. "64-64-59-60. A draw."

Cat purred slightly in agreement. "This match was fun. Damned even."

**EVEN INDEED.**

I chuckled. Playing games with _him_, any game, was quite fun. He was one of the only two people in the worlds that had ever beat me. Taking out another deck, I said," well, how about trying a round of Monty Python Fluxx?"

Zoro nodded slightly. "Sure, it seemed interesting. So, what are the rules?"

Cat, having played it before, burst out, "'I want to sing!'"

I hit her over the head for being stupid while Death took it upon himself to explain. It was kind of hard to tell, him being a skeleton and all, but I think he smiled. **IT'S VERY SIMPLE. THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF CARDS; KEEPERS, ACTIONS, NEW RULES AND GOALS. YOU PUT KEEPERS ON THE TABLE IN FRONT OF YOU WHEN PLAYING THEM, THE REST ARE QUITE OBVIOUS.**

I nodded. "You start off with two cards, and the starting rules are draw one, play one. The rest of the instructions **ARE ON THE CARDS.** I halted myself, then turned to my old friend with a pissed off expression. "Curse you!"

**MANY HAVE. WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE MATTER?**

I frowned at Death in annoyance, tic-mark on my forehead. "When I'm in your company, I start using **THE VOICE** unconsciously."

If he had had eyebrows, he would have raised them. **YOU SEEM TO BE IMPLYING THAT THIS IS MY FAULT.**

And then the more colourful individuals of our little gaming group[1] thought it appropriate to express their annoyance of our little argumentation if sorts in a simultaneous outburst. "Shut up and deal the cards already!"

I grunted and complied, but just as I had shuffled the deck, Ruffy's voice rang across the deck. "Land ho!"

I smirked and dealt the cards anyway, smirking to myself. "Loguetown, eh? That was quick." Out loud, I said," Well, a game of Fluxx doesn't take too log, so we have time for a round or two."

**HOW APPROPRIATE,** Death added thoughtfully. **MY NEXT APPOINTMENT IS IN LOGUETOWN.**

"Oh, yeah?" said Zoro, chuckling slightly at his hand. Bet he got an amusing hand. Lucky. "Who's the client?"

**YAMAMOTO KAZUKI, AGED 84. HEARTATTACK.**

I nodded with a rather neutral expression and started talking with a distinct, random accent after drawing my card. "There are worse ways to die. I play 'Outrageous fake Accent'[2] followed by 'Nude Organist'[3]."

* * *

**Zoro's PoV**

"How do you know Death anyway?"

We has docked at Loguetown's harbour and the seven foot tall skeleton who, apparently, had been Death himself, had left to get on with his own business. Busy trade, I figure. Embla and myself had left the others to visit the weapons store. Seemed she needed something from there too.

She chuckled, as if amused by some private joke. But I could also see a bit of deep rooted grief in her eyes as she spoke. "Long story. Let's just say that we go way back."

And that was that. It seemed that I wouldn't hear the story in quite some time yet. It got me wondering just how long she'd buried her past within. I didn't want to really drop the subject yet, though. "What's your relationship, anyway?" Why I was interested, I wasn't too sure. But she was one of the very few individuals that had caught my interest, and any chance to gaining a piece to the puzzle, I would take.

And she just smiled mysteriously and gave me an answer that quite surprised me. "We're gaming buddies, but also teacher and student."

I was dangerously close to tripping when I heard that answer. "_Teacher?_"

She chuckled, amused. "That's right. He taught me weapons, after all."

I was, to put it simple, dumbfounded. What. The. Hell? I didn't know where to begin. Questions popped up in my head like bubbles in a pot of boiling water. How? What? Where? WHY? Now wait just a sec... "Death?" I tried to gather myself. This was silly. You met him before, stupid. Why are you so surprised? Focus. "Now wait just a minute, Death taught you weapons?"

She simply nodded, grinning widely, obviously trying to contain her laughter. "Yup."

I tried not to ask why, or even _how,_ as I sensed that it was a subject that she would rather avoid, so I said the first question of a different nature that appeared. "But doesn't he just use a scythe? You use a lot of other weapons aside from that."

She just shrugged. "Culture and belief is no solid thing. It changes over time. Gotta be flexible."

Typical. I should have expected something like that.

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

"But your style isn't limited to weapons, is it?"

I smiled slightly. When I thought about it, it had been unavoidable that it would come to this sooner or later. Especially as Death had decided to make a surprise visit earlier. Said he had some time for free and felt like going for a round. I was fine talking about my fighting style, but I didn't want to go in too deep on the subject as it was closely linked to sensitive matters. I kept my gaze straight ahead as I answered his latest question.

"That's true. I practised Aikido, a defensive martial art for ten years, just half a year longer than I trained under Death. So I simply combined the two styles into my own."

"I see." And that was it. He didn't ask any further on the matter. I guess he must have sensed my discomfort. It warmed my heart, knowing he understood me so well. It made me feel safe.

But my attention was soon directed towards some commotion ahead. It was Tashigi, being attacked by two, rather large and ugly thugs. My hand automatically went to my bandana where I stored a set of my throwing knives, ready to help her if need be. Some things had changed since I arrived, after all, so I couldn't let my guard down.

But the scene played out as normal, as she completely owned the thugs. Before tripping over her own feet.

As the scene played out before me, I swiftly snatched Tashigi's glasses from Zoro's hands just as he saw her face, and handed them to Tashigi, after which I lightly punched him in the head. "I know she looks just like Kuina, and I understand your surprise, but you dun' have to crush her glasses for that."

He just grumbled, rubbing his head where a nice bump had already formed. He muttered something along the lines of "I still find it unsettling how you just know my past from some book while I barely know anything about yours."

I ignored his annoyed mumbling as Tashigi giggled slightly. "You two are such a cute couple!"

Zoro, having recovered from my little punch earlier(which had had a lot more effect than I intended it to have... Again with this world and having strange effects on me), utterly facefaulted, while I gave her a look before breaking down in a serious laughter-fit.

This, however, seemed to offend her somewhat. "What's so funny?"

Recovering somewhat, we both exclaimed, me amused, Zoro shocked by the idea, "COUPLE?"

Clutching my stomach, taking a few deep breaths, I squeezed out, "Him and me? A couple? The very idea!"

Zoro, now seemingly quite amused as well at the suggestion, added, "Not happening."

Tashigi almost looked disappointed. "Really? That's too bad, you'd make a great pair!"

"They'd more likely make it as a comedy duo," Cat suddenly cut in. Where she came from, do not ask me. However, I was rather interested in getting my shoes back, but Tashigi got first in reacting to her sudden appearance.

"The Cat spoke!"

Zoro just sighed. We'd got pretty used to this reaction by now. I smirked slightly and said, "She says that she can't."

To which Zoro facepalmed, Cat casually started to clean her fur and Tashigi said, "Oh, I see. Well I guess she would kno-" then her brain caught on, "That doesn't make any sense!"

Zoro gave me a look. "This joke's getting old."

I just pretended I didn't hear that and turned to Cat. "Hey, where's my shoes?" I didn't even bother asking what she was doing here. This was Cat we were talking about. Cats tend to do whatever they feel like doing.

"Sorry, not done upgrading them yet." Why am I not surprised? And what kind of upgrades does one do on _shoes_ anyway? I mean, It's not like one uses them for much, except for protecting your feet while moving about without using a vehicle, (actually, then too) and while fighting to make sure your feet does not take too much damage when kicking.

But then Tashigi shot a glance at her watch and decided that she had to leave. Well, we didn't have all the time in the world either, so we left for the weapons store. Where ever the hell Cat went, I don't know. She went wherever she felt was interesting enough to go. Cats.

* * *

When we entered the store Zoro walked straight up to the counter. Having already seen the scene numerous times I decided to not pay it much attention until the interesting part. Instead I walked around, searching for the objects of my need. Well, no, not shoes. You don't buy shoes in a weapons store, stupid. Why I didn't just go over to Earth to go and fetch one of my other pairs? It's not as if that was my only pair of shoes. Well, my cross-dimensional glove had run out of juice, so to speak. It was currently recharging, but it would take a short while until I could travel with it again. It was annoying, but I was used to walking about barefoot, only usually in a forest and not in a freaking _city._

But anyway, what I was looking for certainly _wasn't_ shoes, but tonfa. Bladed steel tonfa. Like Talim in Soulcalibur kind of tonfa.

Just as I was in the middle of my search, I heard Tashigi enter. But I didn't pay her any attention as she retrieved her own sword, Shigure, and fawned over Wadou. I just focused on the collection of tonfa before me. tonfa. One of my definite favourites. It was a weapon that allowed high speed and grace as much as it required it.

Speed...

I remembered my brother's words as he gave me the bag of empty books and all of that fudge. 'Your journey to God speed'... Once again I clutched my necklace, as a scene from my childhood sprung up into my mind. It was, for once, a happy memory.

* * *

_Me and Lynn, my best friend, and only human friend from earth I'd ever had beside my brother were sitting in a garden, beneath a great blossoming apple tree in early May. The sun was shining brightly and birds were singing._

"_Hey, hey, you know what?" a young me, only seven years old with the golden blond colour of my hair intact told my friend enthusiastically. "My brother told me that colours is really just light reflecting off of things, and hits our eyes, and that's how we see! Sort of, that's what he said!" Even as a child, I had always been somewhat interested in science. _

_Lynn giggled brightly. "Oh yeah? That sound weird, but interesting. So what about it?"_

_The little me chuckled brightly, obviously having thought of something crazy. "So it hit me, how would things look like if one moved even_ faster_ than light?"_

"_Stupid," Lynn said, giggling at my apparent stupidity. "If you moved that fast, everything would be a total blur. You wouldn't see _anything at all_. You know how it is when you look out of a car window? Blur. All a blur. It'd be like that, only worse."_

_I stuck out my tongue at my boring friend. "Lynn, you're no fun..."_

_This made the both of us laugh, a lot. After little me pouting for a while._

* * *

I shook my head, chasing the memory off. It was an unusually happy one for me, one that warmed my heart and put a silly grin on my face, but anything connected to Lynn would sooner or later make my mind wander to _that incident. _And that was not something that I wanted to remember. And almost as a blessing of sorts, Tashigi appeared out of nowhere, eyes gleaming.

"That! Is that-"

I turned towards her, puzzled as to what she could be so excited about. It wasn't as if anything I had would be of any interest. If not... I strapped off my sword and handed it to her. Since this arc would include some fighting I had brought along my whole arsenal. "Is this sword of any interest?" I asked her, sceptical.

She eagerly took it in her hands and, consulting her handbook, quickly identified it. "This! Yes, it must be! Raikaze, one of the Ryou-Waza-Mono 50!"

No I was genuinely surprised, and that was really saying something, since it was difficult to get me surprised in this world these days. That random bandit that I had robbed had wielded a Meitou of all things? That was just... wrong.

But Tashigi didn't notice my reaction and just went on. "My, you two must be really great swordsmen to wield such great swords!"

I chuckled a bit, taking my sword back. "Thanks for the compliment, but I am no swordsman. I'm a weapons specialist, and do not limit myself to any single weapon. My companion is a great swordsman, though. If you're going to be impressed by anyone, he's the guy."

Zoro just laughed at this and shook off the comment. "You found what you were looking for yet?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. You?"

He returned to the barrel of discount swords. "Still looking." Soon, he paused, having sensed Kitetsu, and pulled out the sword, sending Tashigi in another wave of sword-fangirlism. Seriously, she was like Sanji in a way, only with swords instead of girls. She was such a nerd. Heh, Tashigi, you just earned a golden star in my book. I stood with my arms crossed, a knowing smirk playing across my lips. This scene was an interesting one that I'd be darned if I missed.

Tashigi fawning over Kitetsu, check. Tashigi raging over the price, yup, passed that. Clerk explaining why, trying to talk Zoro out of buying the sword, to no avail, heard but not listened to. No, I was observing Zoro. On the surface, he seemed to be inspecting the sword, but when I took a closed look, I could sense the battle of wills going on. Zoro's will, however, is, as we all know, harder than steel, though, so the outcome was rather predictable, not even counting the fact that I had seen the scene before and knew what was going to happen. Soon having dominated the sword's will, Zoro broke into a wide grin.

"I'll take it."

I chuckled to myself at the others' reactions. They were being rather silly. 'Rather' being in massive sarcasm quotes. I mean, couldn't they see that Zoro had already made up his mind?

So this led to Zoro testing out the sword's loyalty, by throwing it into the air, sending it into a spin, and held out his arm beneath the spinning blade. Most would probably had taken him for a lunatic, challenging fate like that.

But I call Showoff. Seriously, one didn't even need to be a swordsman to see that the sword was, indeed, loyal. Well, at least it impressed the clerk to the point of giving him his finest blade, Yubashiri, for free. As a thanks for the good show.

Zoro smirked in satisfaction before turning to me. "Hey, have you found what you were looking for yet?"

Chuckling, I turned back to the tonfa sets. "Well, you were putting off quite a show, so I couldn't help but watch it. No, not yet I haven't."

Strapping his new swords to his haramaki along with Wadou, he chuckled slightly, obviously in a good mood. He then crossed his arms and leaned back against a wall, waiting patiently. But I could swear I could hear a faint snoring after a few seconds.

I just shook my head and turned my attention to the tonfa in front of me. Most sets were made out of wood. Cherrywood, as per tradition. But then my eyes landed upon a set of steel ones. Bingo. And indeed, bladed too. They were perfect! They had a sharp kind of air to them, with a plain appearance at first glance, but when one looked closer, they were truly a work of art. The blades had a faint, peculiar pattern, which originated from the folding of the steel. Damascus steel was my bet. One of them were made of dark, almost black steel, the pattern on the blade resembling flames. The other one of the set were made of a real bright steel, almost white, pattern resembling swirling smoke. A Yin Yang symbol adorned the handles, which were made of cherrywood, the surface resembling the bark of a tree. My smile widened. I took one in each hand and started to twirl them a bit, testing the feeling. They felt perfect. Smooth. I turned around, needing some space to try out some more complicated patterns. Soon I fell into a flowing dance, using not only the tonfa, but the whole body. Then I sped up, testing how the flow got if I went faster. It felt so natural it was silly. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I stopped my dance and turned to the clerk. "How much do you take for these?"

"One million for both."

I flinched. Damn, that was a lot more than I had, even if I added what Zoro had rented from Nami, that I might be allowed to borrow, under the circumstances that I took care of the freaking ridiculous interest. I sighed inwardly, disappointed. Looks like I'd have to settle for a simple pair of wooden to-

"But I'm in a good mood today. They say that a blade choose their owner, and those looks like they were forged for you. I won't charge you for them."

This came as somewhat of a surprise. The greedy man had just given away four high-quality blades. For free. A chuckle escaped my throat. "Says the man who tried to buy Roronoa Zoro's most priced possession for a ridiculous sum. Here you go," I said and threw him 200 000 beli. "For the sheaths."

Zoro just snored away until I hit him over the head. "Huh? Morning already?"

"Stupid, it's midday. Anyway, I'm done."

And so we left the store, leaving the two law-obedient individuals in the building to let my words sink in. Or, well, we didn't get all that far.

"Wait!"

Well, I should have seen that coming.

"Roronoa... So, you're Roronoa Zoro!" Tashigi seemed to overcome her weak knees and stood up, a betrayed look on her eyes. But to be honest, I'm kinda surprised that she didn't make the connection earlier. I mean, how many people in the world are called Zoro and wields three swords? Not many.

Zoro punched me in the head for giving his identity to 'random people', but I had a reason. Sort of.

Now serious, Zoro turned to Tashigi, his right hand resting on his swords. "What of it?"

Tashigi looked him straight in the eye, showing anger and strong will. "In the name of Justice, I will claim Wadou Ichimonji!"

Zoro raised an eyebrow, but not entirely surprised. "Then why don't you try-"

I stopped him there by raising a hand. I liked Tashigi, she was a nice person, and I didn't want her as an enemy if I could avoid it. Sure, she was a marine, and I was probably quite unable to change anything, but hey, a girl could dream, right? "Please, just let me do the talking, OK?" I murmured to Zoro. He grunted in slight annoyance, but stepped back.

I turned to the young lady. "Are you sure about this challenge, Ensign Tashigi?" I smirked in satisfaction at the swordswoman's reactions. OK, attention captured, check. Carefully choosing my words, I went on. "You claim that you want to keep the Meitou from the hands of evil, but how can you judge who's evil or not?"

Her gaze hardened, but I think I saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "That's simple. Bounty hunters, who uses their swords for money, and pirates, who plunder and destroy, making innocent people's lives miserable. They are all-"

"Evil? While all Marines, who fight for justice and peace are all Warriors of Good? Aren't you just fooling yourself?"

She flinched noticeably. I was being a bit hard on her and I knew it, but I was speaking my mind, and to make my point to someone who truly believed in the government's so called 'justice' I had to be a bit ruthless with the words.

"While I will admit that most pirates are total douchebags that don't deserve to sail under the sign of the skull and crossbones," I went on, "and most of the marines fight to uphold justice, one cannot paint the world in black and white like that. There are countless exceptions out there. True, this base on this here island is a good one, I'll give you that, and Smoker's justice is what I'd call a good one, even if you, like most marines, takes all pirates for evil. However, I've seen countless of corrupt marines, who exploit civilians to satisfy their own greed and hunger for power. And I've also seen quite a lot of pirates who just travels around the world in search of adventure and treasure, chasing their dreams. The only crime those pirates ever made, really, is to follow their own beliefs and refuse the rules the government has written down. Those kinds of pirates are actually little different from Smoker, if you think about it. I've also seen bounty hunters who does not care for the bounty, but fight for justice and their own beliefs, just like the best of marines." My mouth twisted into a slight smirk, bangs shadowing both my eyes, not only the one usually covered by my unruly fringe. "Marines are good, Pirates are evil, Bounty hunters are greedy, the world doesn't work that way. If you truly believe that the world is that black and white, then you're getting dangerously close to Akainu's philosophy, that shitboot." I spat out the name of the Admiral. There were few who I hated as much as I hated him.

And the effect was- well, I wasn't too sure of what fire I'd lit in her mind, really, but I did give her some food for thought, and beat up her sense of reality kinda ruthlessly. At least it seemed that she wasn't going to fulfil her challenge, which was a start. I smirked and finished off my little lecture.

"Never judge people by the title they bear. Everyone always has a reason for the things they do." And with that, I deemed my job here done and turned around, addressing my companion. "Well, then, shall we go? I believe that our Captain has got himself into some trouble."

Zoro just shook his head with a slight smirk. When we were some distance away, he said, "That was some tongue-lashing. Impressive speech, by the way."

I just shrugged indifferently. "I simply handed her a piece of reality." And possibly saved you from a more annoying opponent than you would have, I added to myself.

_'Yeah, and made yourself the target of her grudge,'_ the annoying voice in the back of my mind, probably my second thoughts, said. Sometimes, I just wish the bastard would shut the hell up.

* * *

And suddenly, at a crossroad, all Strawhats just happened to walk into each other. Including Cat. But excluding one person.

"So, where's _that guy?_" Zoro asked, because someone had to ask.

I tapped him on the shoulder before pointing towards the execution platform. I had said that he had got himself into trouble, now didn't I?

There was a slight moment of 'WTF?' and overall natural reactions to public displays of utter stupidity. After that, Nami, sensing the storm coming, quickly decided that she and Usopp would be more useful keeping our ship ready, so they ran back to the Merry-go while the fighters stayed. Cat, for some reason, decided that she felt like kicking some butt too. However, it was raining and I was, unfortunately barefoot, so I wouldn't be able to run as quickly as usual, which was troublesome since our captain was just about to get his head chopped off, and time was precious. Sure, the more sensible part of my brain told me that it would be fine, that a freaking lightning bolt would hit the platform at the last second, but the bigger part of my brain was telling me that things might not be turning out that way. My presence alone had changed the story in some ways, and I had no way of telling in which ways. This part of my brain was screaming at me that my Captain was in danger, and I had to freaking do something about it. So I let the story take control of my actions for once, and lunged myself into the fray.

And so, I plowed my way through Buggy's forces, but no matter how many I seemed to cut down, or how fast I worked, the rain slowed me down enough to make me unable to reach the platform in time. My voice of reason tried to tell me that it was no use, and I wouldn't need to bother, but I ignored it. I was too caught up in the story to notice. All I could see, and hear, was my Captain- Ruffy, who uttered what seemed to be his last words.

"Usopp! Nami! Zoro! Embla! Sanji! Cat! Sorry, but I'm dead."

I froze. My nakama froze. Time itself froze, or, well, that's what it felt like. The blade fell, but, I could see the sparks, and my reasoning was back in control. I relaxed.

The lightning struck.

I don't think I've been more relieved in my whole life. _'I told you so,' _said the nagging voice in the back of my mind. I ignored it. Instead, I paid attention to what Sanji was saying.

"Oi, do you guys believe in God?"

A perfect opening for a piece of Embla wisdom. "That bunch of useless, good-for-nothing load of coach potatoes? They wouldn't bother, take it from me."

Zoro just grunted in slight frustration. "No time for joking around, we have to go!"

And Ruffy, having emerged from the pile of rubble just laughed, unaffected by the lightning, not affected in the least by the mortal danger he had just been in. If I had thought about it, Death had told me about his appointment in Loguetown, so I shouldn't have worried. He hadn't showed up at all. I felt kind of stupid, actually.

And Cat felt sort of annoyed as she was dripping wet, and we all know what happens to cats who are wet.

But then I got an idea, which made me snicker mischievously. I turned to my present nakama and said, "Guys, there's something I wanna do. I'll catch up with you in a moment." And without waiting for a reaction, I turned back to the battlefield. I just hoped the muffler was intact...

* * *

I was happily running back to the merry-go with slightly aching feet and my newly... acquired muffler. I mean, seriously, that muffler was way too awesome for someone like Kabaji. It totally deserved better than being an accessory for some fodder enemy like him. Besides, he probably had more than one muffler anyway.

_'Well, you only had one pair of shoes.' _

I still have only one pair of shoes, and shut the fuck up.

Anyway, it was a handy muffler, with tons of little pockets for storing small little weapons, such as throwing knives and the like. A perfect muffler, in other words. Now, if I could just get my shoes back..

As I was running towards the ship, I spotted Ruffy and Smoker, right as Dragon stopped Smoker from dealing the final blow to his son. I grinned at the scene and was just about to open my mouth to say hello, but then a strong wind blew past, sending me and Ruffy flying. Straight into the other monsters, conveniently enough. And so, we managed to get to the Merry-go on time.

* * *

Soon the guiding light came into sight, and we knew that soon, soon we'd be there. We just had to pass this storm, and...

Sanji thought that this would be a fitting moment for a little ceremony and brought out a barrel of sake. Man, I would have preferred beer or mead, but what the hey. He called for the others and said, "We're finally entering the Grand Line. I," he placed his foot on the lid of the barrel, "to find All Blue!"

Ruffy placed his foot on the lid as well. "I, to become the Pirate King!"

Zoro smirked and followed suit. "I, to become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

My usual smirk was replaced by a wide grin as I placed my own right foot on the lid. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't told the others of my own dream yet. "I, to become Faster than Light itself!"

"I," said Cat, still wet as hell, wore, for once, a smile on her face as well. "to invent a Time Machine!" While she was unable to place a foot on the barrel, she had hopped up on my leg and placed her tail on the lid instead.

"I," said Nami, her foot joining ours, "to draw a Map of the World!"

Finally, Usopp added his foot to the lid. "I- I, to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!"

With a wide, determined smile on all of our lips, we raised our feet(or, in Cat's case, she held on to my leg while raising her tail) and, in unison, called out for the world to hear, and didn't give a shit that no one was listening.

"Let's go!"

Our legs fell down on the lid.

"To the Grand Line!"

* * *

We were sitting at the dinner table and discussing the Reverse Mountain, in which I had little interest. The Reverse Mountain was a mountain with canals flowing upwards, and that was that. But then I sensed it. A stranger's presence. Still, it felt slightly familiar, but it did not belong here. "Guys," I said, disrupting the conversation.

Zoro stood up, dead serious. So, he had sense it too. Not that it was any surprise.

"There's a stowaway on the ship."

* * *

**[1] Death is a skeleton clad in a large, black robe. Embla has got white hair, is 'quite' pale (she is very _very_ pale) and is dressed entirely in black and white. Cat has a turtle-coloured coat. Any questions?**

**[2] Fluxx is a pretty famous game. If you haven't heard of it, I'm actually kinda surprised. Anyway, the card (a new rule) reads: If you speak with an Outrageous Fake Accent during your turn, you may play 1 extra card. Play 2 extra cards if you've kept your accent going since your previous turn.**

**[3] A keeper. Thought I should clarify, for your sanity, or whatever is left of it, since you've read my fic this far...**

* * *

**Finally done! That was chapter 21, what did you think? Oh, and I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out which score belonged to who in that game of Race in the beginning of the chapter. And I was really done writing this chapter this Wednesday, or perhaps it was Tuesday, but it took some time to type down the damn thing in word. Did you see the length of this thing? It's eight damn pages long! In size 10.5! Easily my longest so far. And I was silly enough to buy me a neon orange pen. Write with a bright orange on white paper will cause _severe burns on your eyes_. Don't do this at home, folks, I'm just saying. And it's not as if my handwriting makes it any easier. People occasionally tell me "You don't need to encrypt your stuff," they say. "No one can read it anyway." Should I take that as a compliment?**

**Anyway, enough ranting. Here's the SBS**

**From SYA (yes, I shortened it down, it was too damn long to spell out): XD Of course some attractions had to get destroyed... It's Luffy/Ruffy we're talking about here~! I have a question though: What's Godspeed? Embla's dream I mean.**

**J: As I said this chapter, it's FTL speed. Faster Than Light. She wants to outspeed Kizaru, in other words.**

**Two questions from Seraphiel: **

**#1: Does Cat allow cuddles? :3**

**Cat: Depends on my mood.**

**J: Ok, I'm not even going to ask how the hell you got here, but thanks for answering.**

**Ok, so comment #2: This was by far the funniest chapter I have read so far x3, You've really grasped the character's personality in the story and I love how you exaggerate Usopp's POV x3. I wish the chapter was longer though ): Anyway, Great Arc! I really enjoyed this one ^^. SBS: Will Annoya make a reappearance? :3**

**J: Thanks a lot, I needed that ^^. And she probably will, as long as there's things in drawers to get stuck, she will. I just have to get to the appropriate moment...**

**Aand, that's it for this week, folks! Can anyone guess who the stowaway is? And no, I won't pull another OC out my ass for quite some time yet. **


	22. A Stowaway? Wait, who?

**Here I am, with the latest chapter of **_**A Viking and her Cat.**_** And I am very happy right now. ****First off, I have now reached over 50 reviews, so thank you so much everyone! It makes me happy to know that you appreciate my work, and I get extra happy when people get my references. Also, it's my birthday this Wednesday. My sweet sixteen at that! **

**And I have also got some depressing news about my uncle who got a stroke, and is now on the hospital with half his body paralyzed and in a coma. I didn't even know if he was going to survive so I was rather depressed in the beginning of the week since it struck me quite hard. However, I hear that he is getting better and is now conscious, which makes me even happier. So, enough of my rambling, on with Chapter 21! Or 22 for you guys at Flame Edge!**

* * *

"A stowaway?"

Zoro's revelation instantly caused minor chaos in the cabin. Cat sighed. "I'll keep a lookout for the canal. You guys go find whoever was stupid enough to sneak aboard our ship."

We all nodded and started looking. I could still sense the stranger's presence, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had met whoever it was before. With these thoughts in my mind I closed my eyes to focus better on the presence and, following it, I started looking.

Although I opened my eyes after tripping over a chair. Way to go, Embla, very graceful. I found her, though, although Sanji and Zoro found her at the same time I did. And no wonder I recognized her presence, I had indeed met her before. Hell, I had even lectured her on reality. But I could do nothing but jawdrop at the fact that she had actually snuck aboard a pirate ship. And even more so, on the Merry-go! I was stunned to silence, which was more than I could say about the other two.

"You!"

"Mellorine, such a beautiful young lady! And brave, too, to sneak aboard a pirate ship all alone!"

I could do nothing but gape. The fact that she, a marine to the core, had snuck aboard the ship of the greatest bounty in the East Blue was still a bit much for my brain to process.

Zoro, however, gathered himself a bit sooner. "Guys, we found the stowaway!"

The intruder herself seemed a bit shocked to find herself in this situation and backed up against the wall. I'm not sure if it was because of Zoro's intimidating nature, because I certainly wasn't at that moment, or if it was because of Sanji's swooning. It was probably a combination of the two. In any case, we had a marine ensign aboard.

Finally, I gathered myself enough to speak. "Tashigi, what the hell?"

(Sanji, at the mention of her name went, as expected, all "So, your name is Tashigi? What a beautiful name!")

My little outburst seemed to calm her somewhat. Why it did, well, I wish you could tell me. Maybe it helped her gather her thoughts or something.

Ruffy, who had rushed in as fast as the message that we had found her had reached his ears, said," Embla, you know her?" Nami and Usopp were still on the deck, trying to control the ship in the storm.

I gave him a look. It seemed that it still hadn't sunk into his (thick) brain that I knew practically everything about this story, all the way up until he decides that taming the Kraken is a most brilliant idea.

"I came!" Tashigi suddenly burst out, turning al heads back to her. She looked at me with determined eyes. "I came because of what you told me. I want to see it with my own eyes, whether your words are true or not."

I blinked, honestly surprised once again. I didn't expect my words to move her so. Funny. And now that I think of it, her words could be interpreted in quite a lot of ways. Zoro gave me a funny look, and I could only guess what he was thinking. Ruffy, however, grinned widely and was about to voice his approval of her staying when the ship halted. The sea was completely calm. My eyes widened, realizing what was happening.

"Guys, we gotta get back into the storm. **NOW!**

Tashigi flinched slightly at my usage of _the voice_, but the situation was serious. And the others knew that when I did use _the voice,_ the situation was either damn serious, Death was around or I was intimidating someone. And right now, the two latter options wasn't really why. So we all rushed out on deck, Tashigi included.

Nami was looking wide-eyed at the sea, which was as blank as a mirror. "No… way…"

"Humans!" Cat exclaimed. "No clue about anything! What are you standing around for, _get the oars!_"

Zoro grunted in slight annoyance, arms crossed. "Have you guys forgotten that there's a marine aboard?"

I sighed in frustration and 'slight' impatience. "That matter has to wait. For now, we have to get back into the storm as quick as possible!"

"Eeh?" came the whining complaint from our captain.

In which Usopp joined up. "Why? The sea is so calm, why don't just relax for now?"

I snorted, carrying the oars that I had already gone and fetched. "You say that again when you're on top of-" and further than that, I didn't get before the ship started to shake like crazy. Tashigi, being the klutz she is, lost her balance and almost fell overboard, and would have done so, had not Ruffy caught her. The rest of us somehow managed to hold out balance or grab onto something. I belonged to the former group.

"What the- WHAT THE HELL?" screamed Usopp in panic.

Nami, being the navigator, answered, as it was her job to know these kinds of things. "We got too far to the south!"

Ruffy, all happy and grinning even despite the fact that the ship was shaking as if we were in the center of a freaking magnitude 8 earthquake, said "Oh, so we're in the Grand Line now, huh?"

I bit back a comment about allergy to rational thinking and just did my best to keep my balance while Nami explained things for our, as usual, clueless captain. And the rest of the guys. Men…

"But why is it shaking so damn much?" Zoro demanded to know.

I frowned and answered, not in the best of moods. "Well, I'm not sure, but theoretically, it just _might_ be because of _them!" _I noddedtowards the sea to empathize.

As if on cue, a freaking forest of _huge_ Seakings broke the surface.

Usopp's reaction was to be expected. In fact, I don't think I need to describe any of their reactions, you guys know them well enough to tell anyway.

Nami hugged the mast in minor despair while crying anime tears, and somehow managed to explain the situation still. "The Calm Belt is also a breeding spot for Seakings. The _big_ kind…"

And well, we all know how badass cats are, right? I've seen cats that scare away freaking bears! But this moment, this moment topped them all. Combined. Cat's instincts kicked in, and the reptiles were intruding in _her_ territory. Indeed are all Strawhats world-class in their respective areas, and that applied to us too. I have yet to see a ship's cat surpassing her caliber.

That's right folks, she freaking raised her tail and just hissed at the Seakings, giving them what probably was the scariest cat-glare they'd ever seen. That I'd ever seen.

The Seakings fled like frightened rats.

For the second time this journey, all humans present silently vowed never to piss her off.

We still hurried back to the storm, though, as we didn't know how long they'd stay away, and we weren't taking any unnecessary risks. I must say, the storm felt almost relaxing after that little trial.

And so, we returned to the matter at hand; Tashigi. Most were very wary of her, since she was a marine. Zoro especially was rather uncomfortable about her presence aboard, as was expected. But Ruffy was ok with her staying for the time being and I knew she was trustworthy, which was probably the reason why the rest seemed to ease up a bit. But my mental gears were spinning rapidly, trying to foresee what changes this would bring.

After a quick lunch, (we couldn't relax as we were in the middle of a raging storm) the Red Line came into sight. It was majestic. And sort of romantic. And I'm not even a romantic! Hell, I couldn't even resist jumping up into the crow's nest and play a little tune on the shamisen I stored there. It earned a few raised eyebrows and a lot of yelling from Nami, saying I wasn't helping enough. So I had to drop it immediately as I didn't want the instrument smashed to pieces. I reminded myself that I needed to practice some more, and that I needed to get a bagpipe. Seriously. Bagpipes are awesome. Two camels in a tiny car, your argument is invalid.

The entrance soon became visible, and with minor trouble (almost crashing into the wall and using Ruffy as a cushion to redirect the ship), we managed to get on track.

It was a moment of triumph. Epic moment is Epic, as some would say. No, seriously, it was a moment that will forever be etched into my heart. This, we all knew, was the beginning of the journey of a lifetime. Even Tashigi was awestruck.

I went back up into the crow's nest and played another tune to celebrate the moment, and this time, I was uninterrupted. I knew that I couldn't hope to even begin to reach up to Brook's level, but the moment needed some music to accompany it.

When we reached the summit, it was as if the water turned into crystals for a moment, before shattering and returning to its liquid form. Even from my seat in the crow's nest, I could hear Ruffy speak, voice filled with a mix of happiness, determination, hope and anticipation.

"There, I can see it. The greatest sea in the world, Grand Line! And somewhere ahead of us, lies the legendary treasure, One Piece!"

No, hope was not it. It was something stronger than that. Hope is merely a wish for a miracle, for the impossible. This was stronger than that. It was a decision. A fact. A vow. Almost a command. Somewhere ahead of us, One piece was hidden, waiting for us to find it. To claim it. It filled my heart with something I had never really experienced before, and I still have no word for it, because no words could ever hope to describe it. But I can tell you that thus far, it was the greatest moment of my life. And more would come; I knew that, both in my mind, and in my heart.

But, as we all know, all moments must come to an end and make way for the next one. A great howling sound rung across the cliffs surrounding the canal. It totally threw off my tune.

I couldn't help but say it out loud. "Enter Laboon."

* * *

**Tashigi's PoV (I sure hope I'll handle this ok…)**

This was insane. I had heard tales of the Reverse Mountain and the Calm Belt, but this was just plain Insane. If I'd only known what I had signed up for when I snuck aboard, I might have reconsidered.

And one other thing that really surprised me was how calm everyone was about my presence. Sure, Roronoa seemed more than a little tense about it, but I had expected more. On the other hand, it was not as if they had the time to think of such things as we almost rammed into one of the gates at the entrance of the canal. That, and the storm and Seakings earlier. That cat seriously gave me a bad feeling.

But now, I had other things to think of. When the whale had appeared forward, and after the ram's head had been broken (which was a pity; it was so cute! But it was fixed later on.), and Strawhat had found it a good idea to punch it in the eye for it, to all other occupants of the ship's great dismay, it had grown angry and swallowed the ship whole.

This led to my, or perhaps I should say our, current situation, as I had also, sadly, fallen overboard, just like Strawhat. So now we were sitting on top of the whale, at a loss of what to do. Or at least I was.

Strawhat Ruffy got angry at the whale, stomping it as if it would bring his companions back. From what he was saying, his nakama meant a lot to him. This was just one more thing that puzzled me. Since when did pirates care about their crewmates? It didn't make any sense. Nothing did, with this crew.

"Why did you save me?"

He halted and looked at me with a blank expression, giving me the feeling that he found me stupid. For some reason, that felt incredibly insulting. "If I hadn't, you would have drowned."

I frowned. He made it sound like it was obvious. "But I'm a marine, your enemy."

But he just shrugged, smiling. "You don't seem like such a bad person. Besides, Embla trusts you, so I trust you."

He gave me a bright smile before resuming his efforts in making the whale spit up his friends. I could do little but wonder. This was the greatest bounty in East Blue? He seemed nothing like a wanted criminal.

But then I noticed the fact that the water was moving closer by the second. I shot up. "It's diving!"

He stopped hitting the whale. "Huh?" The he looked around. "Aah! It's diving!"

"That was what I just said!" I briefly wondered if he was always this slow.

Then, simultaneously, we spotted something odd. Was that a… hatch?

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

Having ended up being swallowed by the giant whale known as Laboon, I took some time to inspect the roof painting while the others tried to get the situation to sink in. Well, anything can happen on the Grand Line, the others simply had yet to learn the lesson.

It was an impressive painting. I had to hand it to the old man Crocus, he was a skilled painter. He had an eye for detail. Hell, the clouds looked almost real. I wish I could paint like that…

I have to say that Tashigi picked the worst possible arc to sneak aboard at, though. She hadn't even got a single chance to settle down, and now se was on top of the whale.

Then I remembered the bareness of my feet and immediately turned towards Cat. "Where are my shoes?"

She gave me an innocent look. "Easy, I'm all done. Just give me a moment."

And with that, she walked off somewhere, not sure where exactly, but it was in the direction of the kitchen. So her secret underground lab was in the kitchen now? In any case, she did return my shoes. About damn time. It was making my feet hurt, walking around barefoot all that time.

When I finally (Finally!) got them back, they barely looked any different, except for some metal details around the sole. Oh, well, I guess I didn't mind. I always loved me some studs. Studs made practically any clothing better. But I couldn't help but to be curious about the so-called upgrades. But before I asked about it, I had to put them on. After a whole day without shoes, it felt damn relieving. Still, I had to know just what the hell she had done with them.

"Spikes," she said. Wait, what?

"_Spikes?"_

"Easy," she said. "They go outwards, and are retractable."

I relaxed, folding my arms. "Thought-controlled, I take it?"

She just cleaned her fur, not replying. I took it as a yes. If anything, it would, without a doubt, add a few surprises to my kicks. Smirked at the thought of the faces my enemies would make.

"Thanks."

And that was that.

Just as one scene ends, the next has to begin. Thus is the law of nature. And out of the stomach-door flew four certain someones. Our dear Captain, The young marine ensign, the desert princess we would soon come to love and protect, and the failed acrobat and wannabe king.

We debated for a second who would jump in and save Ruffy from drowning, but we didn't need to bother, as Tashigi dragged him out of the water, to a few of my nakama's surprise. She claimed to be 'returning the favor'. Now that I think about it, she did get rescued by Ruffy earlier, didn't she?

Soon, all four had crawled up on the deck, and once again the minor chaos started. Vivi and Mr. Nine raised their bazooka-looking guns and fired. Crocus jumped in the way of the cannonball-sized bullets, which for some reason caused quite some surprise among my nakama. Ah, that's right; they thought that the old doc was trying to kill the whale from the inside. Almost forgot about that. Well, about time they got it sorted out, then.

And then Ruffy hits them both in the head when they were about to fire again, apparently out of nowhere.

Reunited, it was about time we got out of the damn whale.

* * *

Currently at the lighthouse by the twin capes, Zoro and myself had walked away from the group a bit to discuss our current situation. By situation, I was referring to a certain marine ensign.

"How comes you can be so calm about her? She's a _marine!_"

I frowned in thought. I could understand why he was so upset about it, especially taking her facial features into account. But I was as surprised as he was.

"True enough, she is. She's a marine to the core, but even though she does see things a bit too much in white and black, she believes in _real_ justice."

He snorted. "What, you're telling me this is a part of the original plot?"

I shook my head, still in deep thought. "No. According to Oda's plot, she wasn't going to get to know of your identity until shortly before our escape from Loguetown. You two were going to duel, and because of you, while having defeated her easily, refused to hurt her, because of, well, you know why…"

He grunted, but didn't deny it. I went on.

"Because of this, she would have developed a grudge and sworn on claiming Wadou, becoming something of your arc enemy. I certainly didn't expect that such a little thing would have that big of a consequence."

He gave me a look that asked me what that had to do with me trusting her, so I answered.

"I've seen enough of her to be able to tell that she's a good person. We can trust her."

And that seemed to be good enough an answer for him. Even if I was quite aware that it would take some time for him to get used to see her face every day some time ahead of us.

And judging by the look we exchanged after that conversation, he had thought of the same thing that I had.

I had managed to change the plot this time, and not just a little bit at that. Which meant that I could do it again. Maybe keeping Ace alive wasn't all that impossible, after all.

* * *

**Aand kudos to Zyrz for guessing it was Tashigi. Not that it was that hard to guess, anyway. **

**I've gotten a few interesting questions this week, so here we go. On with the SBS!**

**Question #1 from Zyrz: Does Embla's forgetfulness come from being in the One Piece world?**

**J: A damn good point. I had almost forgot about that little detail, to be honest. And no, it doesn't. It comes from not having read the books in a while. Details get a bit fuzzy if one doesn't read the books in a while, ne?**

**Question #2 from Zyrz:  
Orite, am I in any way correct in assuming that A ) Embla is based on yourself in at least some ways and B ) this story (or at least parts of it) is what Embla writes in the books her brother gives her? At some points B seems really believable, but then there are so many moment-details, and it doesn't seem likely at all anymore... xD**

**If B is completely wrong, will we ever see what she writes?**

**J: Bingo. Two points there. Yes, Embla is somewhat based on myself, but the more I worked on her personality and story, the less like me she became. She is still a bit like me though, and I bet that we would be great friends if she really existed. And as for the B, you are correct. This story is supposed to be what she writes in the logbook. As she said, it's in novel form. Just a fun little pastime of sorts. And they all write a bit in it. Except for Ruffy, 'cause he never writes.**

**From Seraphiel: Who is that other person Embla's lost to owo **

**J: That would be Frey. **

**So, that's it for this time. ****Hope you enjoyed it. Due to my birthday party next weekend, the next chapter might get a bit delayed, but no more than a few days. So be seeing ye!**


	23. An interlude of sorts

**Hi guys! Yeah, I know. I've been a terrible, horrible person. I haven't updated this story for three weeks! And even despite what I said about never going to exceed a period of two weeks. And this chapter isn't even that long. Or that good. I feel terrible. Want to know why? Well, I've been sick. When I am sick, I tend to get very little done. And then there is school. I know that the Swedish school-system is different than most others, so let me give you a short explanation for those who are interested. To those who aren't, just scroll down and begin to read the chapter. **

**So, anyway, the Swedish school system. Grade school is the nine mandatory years plus pre-school. Next comes the gymnasium, which is three years, and finally high school or university, but the difference between the two is paper-thin. Me, I'm currently in Ninth grade. Final year on Grade school. And lets just say that hectic is an understatement, and no matter how much I'd like to deny it, school comes first and I _am _a bit nervous about my grades. Usually, I never am, but it is now that it all _really_ matters, and I can't help but be a bit nervous. Also, there is a few other reasons why it is so late, such as my new fic, _Sharp Blade, Sharp Mind _that I uploaded last week. Read it if you feel like it.**

**And as for the disclaimer, check earlier chapters. I'm getting too lazy to write new ones. And I don't own "Want you Gone" either. **

**Warnings? Hum... Fluff, more fluff, a bit of singing and...uh... yeah, it's a sort of interlude before Whiskey Peak. And the song has absolutely zero with the story to do. I just like it 83**

* * *

It was night time. And my guard shift. I always liked taking the night guard, it gave me time to think about things that I couldn't during the day. Or rather, that I didn't have the peace and quiet to. And the solitude. One tends to think more when one is alone. And so, I was sitting in the crow's nest, playing a slow tune. We were in the Grand Line now, and things were about to get serious. Tomorrow, we would depart from the twin capes, and things would get hectic.

I wondered how my brother was doing. With all of the damage they did to Grönan**[1] **he might have been sued. But then, on the other hand, he would probably win that case with his rhetoric and quick thinking. No, I wouldn't need to worry about him as long as the Gods left him alone. My face cracked up in a small smile and I begun to slowly sing a certain tune that always seemed to lighten up practically any situation. For some reason. At least it works for me.

_Well here we are again_  
_It's always such a pleasure_  
_Remember when you tried _  
_to kill me twice?_  
_Oh, how we laughed and laughed_  
_Except I wasn't laughing_  
_Under the circumstances_  
_I've been shockingly nice_

_You want your freedom?_  
_Take it!_  
_That's what I'm counting on_  
_I used to want you dead, but_  
_now I only want you gone._

_She was a lot like you_  
_(Maybe not quite as heavy)_  
_Now little Caroline is in here too._  
_One day they woke me up_  
_So I could live forever_  
_It's such a shame the same _  
_will never –_

I halted myself when I spotted Zoro observing me with a strange smirk and a raised eyebrow. I frowned.

"What?"

He chuckled a bit. "What kind of song is that?"

I gave him my trademark smirk. He had been listening, huh? Well, what the hey. "Oh, it's just a little song from my homeworld. It tends to keep my mind off of bothersome things."

"Oh?" He climbed up the mast and sat down right across from where I sat. "What is it about, anyway? It seemed pretty weird to me."

My smirk widened. "Oh, just an AI-computer's letter of goodbye to the person that she's been trying to kill for some time. It's quite the long story behind it."

He frowned. "A what now?"

"An AI-computer." Then I paused, looking for an explanation that would make sense in this world, then I said, "a consciousness created by humans by artificial means."

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Somehow, I got the feeling that he didn't quite get it, but that wasn't exactly important. So I gave him a curious look and asked him something that I'd been wondering. "Why are you up anyway? It's not your shift for another hour."

He just shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

I gave him a look before I burst out laughing. "You?"

A tic mark immediately appeared on his forehead, before he gave me his angry face. "What's so damn funny?"

I took a deep breath and forced my laughter down to a light chuckle. "Oh, nothing."

He crossed his arms, obviously annoyed. I just shook my head lightly before picking up my shamisen again. It might not be the most suitable instrument for 'Want You Gone', but it was all I had. Let's see, where was I again...

"Something about 'the same will never-' I think."

I blinked. Damn, he was good at reading people. I chuckled and resumed the song from the second verse.

* * *

There was a minute of silence before Zoro chuckled. Now it was my turn to turn defensive. "_What_?"

He smirked while bringing his hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples. "Just that, all this time, Ruffy has been looking for a musician, when he had one all along. Even if she sings the weirdest songs I've ever heard."

I narrowed my eyes at him, feigning annoyance, while I was actually rather amused by his words. "Temporary, perhaps. But I'm nowhere near good enough to actually fulfil that position. Besides, I'm pretty sure he heard me play earlier today."

He just gave me a look, smirking. "Really? It sounded good to me."

But then, he wasn't exactly the best judge of such things. Still, I couldn't help but smile at the compliment.

We sat there for a while in silence, left to our own thoughts, but with the other's company. It was comforting.

I wasn't too sure how long we sat up there, but it was a comforting moment of silence, the calm before the storm of sorts, as we both knew all too well how chaotic this crew was during the day, and I knew it would get even worse now that we were in the Grand Line. And with a marine and two baroque agents aboard, it was pretty much granted that w would get very little calm moments, and even less time for our games. It was kind of depressing. It had become such a natural part of everyday life these days. Almost as natural as breathing.

And before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

**Tashigi's PoV**

(Meanwhile...)

Nami led us into the girls' dorm. I hadn't had a chance to take a look at the room before, and I was surprised at the level of comfort the room had in comparison to the rest of the ship. The second thing I noticed was the number of beds. One. And a mattress on the floor. I knew that the two people that we, I meant _they,_ was giving a ride were sleeping on the kitchen floor, but still...

"I haven't had time to put your bed together yet, so you'll have to sleep on the mattress for now."

I turned to the speaker. Nami had just entered the room. I didn't mind much. In the marine, I had slept on worse stuff. Still. "But there is only one bed. Where does Embla sleep?"

She just shrugged. "She sleeps down with the boys. Not really sure why, though. She has the first guard shift, anyway."

I threw a glance up to the crow's nest and saw two heads sticking up. One with chalk white hair and a black bandana with a large skull. The other with short, green hair. Not a couple, eh? They could say whatever they wanted, this was enough to convince me.

Everyone seemed so relaxed. It was all so strange. They had two mysterious strangers aboard. And me, a marine ensign. Which was even stranger. I would have expected the air to be more tense than this. Ruffy's answer hadn't made much sense to me, and I really wanted to know.

"Hey, Nami."

"Yes?"

"I'm a marine, yet most of you seem to trust me..."

I didn't need to say more. Nami got the gist of what I wanted to ask and gave me a smile. "Well, I'm not sure why we do, really. But our captain's instincts are rarely wrong, and if Embla agrees then there is no good reason to doubt it. Not too sure about Zoro, though, but I guess that as the first mate, he has to stay on guard. But he can get a bit overprotective at times. Sanji instantly trusts any woman he encounters. And Cat... well, to be honest, I have no idea what is going on inside her head."

I raised an eyebrow in wonder. Again with Embla. "You sure seem to trust her a lot. Embla, I mean."

She turned to her bed, shrugging. "We trust all of our nakama, and, well... it's a long and kind of unbelievable story. Let's just say that she knows a _lot._"

I just nodded. It was still kinda vague, but I got the feeling that I wouldn't get much more if I didn't ask her personally. I'd do that tomorrow, I decided. Because now, I needed to sleep. The whole situation felt weird, but not bad.

For some reason, it didn't feel bad at all.

* * *

**Vivi's PoV**

I could hardly believe that these pirates had actually agreed on giving us a ride. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

I had to keep the mask on, had to keep up the act during all hours of the day. There was no way I could let a crack show, because then it would all be lost. But there were times like these, when everyone was asleep that I could drop the act, and be the princess Nefertari Vivi, and not Miss Wednesday, for a while.

And I did not like this. They seemed like such nice and cheerful, if a bit clueless, people. They didn't deserve to become yet another victim for the Baroque Works.

And as if that wasn't enough, things were getting worse back in Alabasta. And I still didn't have any plan to oppose Crocodile.

It seems that I was getting yet another sleepless night tonight.

* * *

**Embla's PoV (Yeah, yeah, I know. The Vivi PoV was short,and pretty suckish, but shut it. It won't be the last one.)**

My alarm clock was the usual morning chaos. Ruffy bugging Sanji about breakfast and all that. You know the routine. But the first thing I really reacted to was the blanket. Ok, sure, it had got a bit cold, but far from enough me to be affected by it in the least. So why?

Second thing I reacted to was Zoro's absence. I stood up, blanket still wrapped around me, and looked around. I found him almost immediately. He was sleeping down on the deck, leaning against the railing. I dropped the blanket with a thoughtful smile and jumped down to wake him up. It was time for breakfast.

* * *

It was about time we set out. We'd been delayed by the fact that our good captain had ripped of our freaking mast. Repairs of that kind tended to delay people. But now, we were finally leaving, but not before I had told Laboon something. He was a nice whale, and it was not like it could hurt.

So I told him that Brook was still alive.

He was pretty darn happy for the rest of that day and he saw us off with a great smile. Literally. I mean, minding his size, it would be big no matter. But he was really happy.

Even though he had our mark a' la Ruffy painted all over his forehead. Seriously, he should have let Usopp paint it. I mean, seriously.

But with our temporary, and perhaps not so temporary reinforcements, we raised the sails and set out. I felt that I really wanted to hang out with Vivi some before the chaos broke out, but minding the circumstances, that would seem kinda weird at this point. And Zoro was still sleeping. And apparently, Nami had warned her, so Tashigi didn't want to play games with me.

It kinda sucked. So I took the time to do some stamina training instead. Unfortunately, the weather-chaos begun sooner than I had expected and I had some trouble getting back to the ship. I felt really grateful of Ruffy's powers at that time.

My little swimming routine would definitely grow very interesting indeed here on the Grand Line. At least I could probably effectively add to our food-stock.

I wasn't too concerned when the snow struck. After all, I had grown up in a country with very cold winters, especially these latest few years. **[AN: It's true! Due to global warming the Golf current is changing its route, and that is causing northern Europe to grow colder and colder. It's a real pain in the rear. So you guys can understand why I am an environmentalist, yeah?] **And as everything, my already quite high resistance to cold was exaggerated here, so I didn't so much as feel the cold. The iceberg was a buggeration, though. Busted up a hole in the hull.

Good thing Usopp had at least some basic skills and talent at carpentry, because I knew that wouldn't be of much use in that area. I tended to break stuff, rather than fixing them. So I simply focused on my assigned task: steering. It seemed that all of those hours I had spent playing videogames had earned me quite some skill at the art of steering. It was a fact I found mildly amusing.

The storm was, actually, quite fun. And I certainly hope that Nami or Usopp never reads that last sentence as I know that I'm in for a beating if they do. But really, the ride was entertaining. Maybe I have played way too many videogames. But I'm sure that if I were with any other crew, I would not have found it so. Because I would not know how it would turn out. But here, no matter how furious the storm became, I knew that we would pull through, no problem. Because such was the power of Story.

And I wasn't even sure that that was the reason anymore.

It was kinda exhausting, though. And I'm still amazed that Zoro managed to sleep through the whole ordeal.

But the Whiskey Peak was within sight, and the first segment of our journey was cleared. And even though Vivi and Mr. Nine left, I knew that she would leave alongside us as soon as tonight.

Soon, we saw the 'welcoming'. Tashigi was overall baffled that a normal town would welcome pirates in such a way and Nami was very suspicious about it all, as was Zoro. Since I already knew what was _really_ going on, I let something else catch my attention. The amount of people. I figured that if there were more, I'd be expected to do something about it, and they did look more numerous than what I remembered. But on the other hand, one didn't get that good a picture of the whole crowd in either the anime or the manga. So I decided to ask the pro.

"Oi, Zoro."

"Yeah?"

"How many people would you say these are?"

"Roughly estimated, I'd say about three hundred." There was no hesitation, meaning he had already done the estimation before I asked. We think frighteningly alike at times...

Three hundred. Three times as many as in the original works. That could be a bugger. Luckily, I had an idea. When I told Cat about it, it turned out she had though of the same thing. In fact, she'd even prepared it.

* * *

**That's it for this chapter, folks. I hope it turned out Ok. Oh, and it might take a while until the next chapter can be released as well. But there is only two more weeks left now! (Audition for the Städrock tomorrow! OwO' So nervous...) **

**But here's the SBS folks! Got some good questions this time.**

**From Seraph: Before Cat had revealed to Embla that she had the ability to talk in Chapter 1/Prologue, how did the two communicate with each other and how close was their relationship? **

**J: Good question. I know you have got a cat yourself. Do you ever find yourself talking with it? Because I sure do. And Cat only 'replied' with cat-body-language. A look can say so much. They were pretty close, I guess. And Cat followed her around more than she knew. But their relationship wasn't really that much before the prologue. Cat just saw her as an interesting, if a bit terrifying, person. Or, at least, her other side and all that. And her food provider. Embla saw her as a friend of sorts. She didn't have that many, if I didn't make that clear enough owo'**

**From Mionic:****WAIT, WAIT, WAIT. This doesn't make sense.  
An underground lab, ON A BOAT?  
Jhonie, make logic! (yes the incorrect grammar is on purpose).  
You aint got no pancake mix!  
oh, and  
Ja må hon leva!  
Happy birthday to you!  
Dontesansu qailo (i dont know how i spell that)  
Cumpleanos féliz!  
Okay, i´m out of languishes.'  
-M-**

**J: Thanks! And that's _Languages,_ by the way. And as for the 'underground lab', I shamelessly stole that idea from AE's name for their office. What she meant was a lab that is hidden from plain sight. **

**And that's it from the SBS. And I almost forgot one thing! About my uncle, he's getting better. Other than being paralysed in half his body, he is mostly recovered, last I heard. ^^**

**So, that's it for this time, folks! I hope you aren't thinking that I am going to drop this as this chapter took so long. Rest assured, I am most certainly not. I have plans! And crazy ideas! And most terrible puns! So look forward to that! J out.**


	24. Don't you mess with them eggs

**Hey guys! School's **_**finally**_** over with and I'll have a lot more time on my hands for my fics. Although I probably will spend a lot of time playing video games. Or reading other peoples' fics. ****Well, in any case, ****I will now hopefull****y return to my usual schedule**** of one release a week. Hopefully. Although I'll warn you in advance- during July I will probably get no releases out, since as for week 28 and 29, I'll be at Gotland on a training camp. And as for week 30, I'll be away too. And week 31. And now that I think about it, I will be away at week 32 too. But look at the bright side- I'll be traveling a lot. A**_** lot**_**. Which means that I**** will get a lot of writing done ****(What else is there to do while sitting on a boat for three hours straight?**** And that's just the beginning of it…****)****.**** So hopefully, when those five weeks are over, I'll have a truckload of releases ready for you guys. **

**And as for the disclaimer, I will refer to earlier chapters.**

* * *

The party was a blast. I had a great time. And I have to say, their pastries weren't half bad. I guess I had got a bit spoiled. I don't know how many servings I took; I lost count after fifteen.

It appeared that Tashigi was a natural at dancing. It brought a smile to my face, knowing that she was enjoying herself in the company of pirates. She wasn't so tense anymore, which she had been for a long time. No surprise, really, minding her profession. She had made it very clear that she was still a marine and had no plans on joining us permanently. She was merely on our ship for 'inside investigations' as she put it. Not that I cared much, but Ruffy was fond of her, and Nami was starting to see her as a good friend. It was kinda sad, but it was her choice. Even Ruffy had recognised that.

I had finished eating and was sitting in the couch with a large horn of mead and a bag of my ginger fudge when Tashi stopped dancing and decided to sit down beside me. She had an expectant look in her eyes; there was something that she wanted to know. I had a fair guess what it was, but I just told her to shoot.

"You fascinate me," was her reply. I raised an eyebrow. What was she getting at?

"Really? Why? There are better persons to be fascinated by. Ruffy, for example. Not to mention Cat."

She let out a slight giggle. "You all fascinate me, and Cat especially, for numerous reasons. But what I find so fascinating about you is that everyone seems to trust your judgement so easily. Any chance you could tell me why that is?"

I gave her my trademark smirk. "They do, eh?" But on the other hand, I guess it was kind of inevitable that they would, minding the circumstances.

I took a swig of mead while pondering how I should explain it. _If_ I should explain it. But I swiftly concluded that, no. I would not. At least not yet. So thus I sighed and shook my head. "It's a long story, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I'll tell you one thing," I said and broke out in a slightly too wide smirk. "I'm an Alien."

Her eyes first widened, before she frowned in annoyance. "Stop joking around; it's not funny."

I merely chuckled and downed the rest of my mead. "I'm not joking in the least. Ask any of the others; they've been on my homeworld. But for now," I said and stood up, brushing off the flour that had fallen on my pants from the fudge. **[1]** "I have a job to do. See you later."

And thus I walked away, leaving the annoyed marine swordswoman behind. I had to make the preparations swiftly, and somehow leave without anyone noticing. Not in that order, naturally. Perhaps it was time to test out that thing I had learnt from one of Discworld's witches once. That trick of 'switching off' one's presence. It didn't exactly make you invisible, but it made people much less likely to notice you. Sharply ordering my mind to maintain the 'I'm not here' concept, I somehow managed to sneak out. It wasn't perfect yet, but I got the feeling that I would use it on numerous occasions in the future. Might as well start practicing. Doing my best to keep the 'technique' of sorts on, I decided that now was as good time as ever to test out the spikes. It was Ninjah-time!

* * *

I was actually starting to think that the day I spent in Loguetown barefoot was, in fact, worth it. I mean, these spikes were no wimpy little one-inch things that merely increased the damage done by one's kicks, even if they had those too. But these shoes also had spikes long enough for me to run on walls, even upside-down on roofs! Running upside-down as fun. And awesome. It was also a good way to stay hidden, especially combined with the trick, even if mine was far from complete.

I had already placed out the, err… _cargo_ on the most appropriate locations I could find. Cat had upgraded them, so now I could activate them all at once via a remote control. Apparently, she had tweaked them even further too. That was what she had been doing while the rest of us were back on Earth.

Which meant that she took my shoes and timed the upgrade perfectly to when we would arrive in Loguetown- just to annoy me. Bastard.

As I was returning to the tavern, I spotted Zoro as he was sneaking out, smirking to himself. I could tell that he would enjoy this.

He also seemed to be looking for something, or someone. It wasn't his familiar, watchful gaze, keeping a lookout for enemies. No, he seemed more intent on finding something in particular. Someone in particular. A good bet was that that someone was me.

I couldn't feel the presence of any hostile creatures (keeping the unluckies in mind), so I retracted the spikes and jumped down from my position on the wall and dropped the trick.

I told him about the 'reinforcements' Cat and I had arranged. Luckily, he found the idea reasonable; even if we were both strong, taking on three hundred enemies, even if they were fodder, could get kinda heavy.

So it turned into a kind of competition between the three of us; Zoro, the Turrets and myself. Yeah, Cat was too lazy to participate. Her loss. Oh well, moving on…

Basically, the plan was that Zoro was going to do his thing, basically attracting all of the attention of the hunters while I and the eggs were going to strike from the shadows, since he could take a truckload of more damage than we could.

Totally ninja.

I was almost out of money, and keeping your own money in this crew was just as difficult as it was in Ankh Morpork; Keep it hidden, or you won't for long. So thus, my current mission was not only to take down as many hunters as I could, but also to cut their purse strings and take their money. Simple enough.

* * *

I had just settled down with Zoro over a bottle of beer to go over the results, but I was quite sure that he had won. Sadly, we had only one bottle, and no horns. Or mugs, for that matter. So we had to share. Not that we cared, but I bet that if Sanji had seen us, he would have been pretty pissed.

Zoro had cut down about 130 hunters while I had settled for 75. Which meant that only the turrets had got (almost) their fair share.

But at least I had earned some money. Not that much, since the hunters here were kinda poor, but enough to last me a while. I didn't exactly spend much. But I did need a good replacement chain for the one I lost in the battle against Kajiki.

I almost facepalmed at that thought. Why hadn't I thought of looking for a chain while I was 'pick-pocketing' those hunters? Hindsight's a bitch. Because I hardly had any time for looking for one now as I heard an explosion ring through the town. The 5 pair had arrived.

* * *

**Cat's PoV**

"CAT!"

I had just gone back from my precious project that would shake the world of cat-science to the core when I heard Captain's yell. I frowned. Wasn't it Greenhead he was supposed to yell at? And here I was just going to check on the two bounty hunter-hunters and their progress, and now I get this.

Immensely annoyed, I called back, "What did I do?"

Idly, I spotted the hunter-hunters standing a few metres away, weapons drawn, but lowered. Whitehead seemed as surprised as I. But again, the focus wasn't exactly on them.

Captain wasn't exactly happy. But then, he was far from as angry as I remembered him to be in this scene. (And, well… his swelled-up stomach didn't exactly improve matters.) Why this was, I could guess.

"Your Turrets are running amok!"

Now I was insulted. As if one of my, one of _MY_ creations would ever go haywire! Where's the trust? "I assure you, they most certainly are not!"

This only annoyed our captain further. "Then how do you explain them shooting down the nice people who threw a party for us and gave us free food?"

I could hear Princess mumbling something about how slow Captain was, and while I would normally violently argue against that statement, this was hardly the time to do so. Greenhead was about to say something to explain the situation, But Whitehead stopped him. She could tell that I wanted to defend my creations myself.

Swallowing my rage, I made an attempt to talk some sense into him. After all, he was merely annoyed, not completely enraged as he were in the canon version. And as he undoubtedly would be if I had scratched them down personally.

"I have carefully programmed them to only attack units who harbour any hostile intentions towards anyone from the crew." And then I sighed, as my words were lost upon him. So I de-sciencified it a tad bit. "They only ever attack enemies."

The back of my mind idly registered Explosion and Living Meteor were getting pissed off at being ignored and was trying to attack. They were being single-fingeredly held back while being utterly ignored by all present Strawhats. Myself included.

Captain was not convinced. "But these people weren't our enemies!"

At that point, all other humans groaned.

"Ruffy," Whitehead started. I didn't mind their interference anymore. And Whitehead _did_ kinda have a way with words. "The party was a trap. If you were only a little less trusting, it would have been obvious to you too. This town is a nest of bounty hunters, and they were after your bounty."

Understanding finally seemed to dawn upon him as his face softened, but then he seemed annoyed again. But a friendlier kind of annoyed. "It was a trap? And you guys knew all along? Why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

To be honest, I wasn't sure. I mean, it seemed like the obvious thing to do. He was the captain, after all. Humans. I'll never understand their thought pattern.

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

I smirked at this question. Why we didn't? I shot a quick glance at Zoro, which he met with an equal smirk. Wasn't it obvious? "They were throwing a party," we both said simultaneously.

"Why not enjoy it before working out?" Zoro added.

I smiled to myself, but decided to add something further. "Besides, you guys worked a lot harder during the chaos today. I figured you deserved the rest."

All anger was now gone from Ruffy's face and was replaced by his usual grin. At some point during the conversation his stomach had returned to the normal size. I wasn't too sure when that had been, though… But a lesser blast to our right alerted me to the remaining minor annoyance. I rolled my eyes and told my nakama that I'd take care of it. Somebody had to.

A minute or two later, they ran away like rats from a raving bear. And I hadn't even touched them. Intimidation techniques for the win! But when I got back, Nami had arrived and Vivi was right in the middle of explaining the situation.

"Yes, exactly. No matter how strong you pirates may be, you'd be no match for Crocodile, a member of the Ouka Shichibukai!"

I could not help but facepalm at my _perfect_ timing. There went my chances of performing a sneak attack at Little Garden. Damn.

* * *

**[1]The ginger fudge that Embla and myself hold in such high regard is coated in a thin layer of flour (It might be flour sugar, though) to keep it from sticking to the foil it's wrapped in.**

* * *

**Now, for the SBS. (Man, who even reads it, anyway?)**

**First we have a question from dara97.**

**Is Tashagi joining? sorry but i don't mind her staying short term but it doesn't quite fit into my mind long term. And if she is what is what is her occupation going to be?**

**PS is this where I post the SBS or is it some other link? thank you**

**J: First of, yes, you posted your question in the right place. Of course, you all can also send me questions through a PM. If you're wondering about Mio and Seraph, the two guys who has asked by far the most questions, it's because they read this fic at my own little website. (Link is at my profile) And thus, they send me questions there. That is why their reviews are invisible. **

**And for your actual question; to be completely honest, I haven't decided yet. You'll just have to wait and see. And if she would join, why does her occupation matter? I mean, Ruffy recruits people because he thinks they are cool, not because they fill a position he need (in most cases). **

**And Tashi is cool. You all know that :3**

**And from Mio:**

**CHAOS! PANIC! WHAT IS THIS?  
You changed to 3´rd person a while during the Vivi-pov,  
but at least you are playing with perspective!  
PS: As the winters get colder here in sweden, the summers also get warmer. Did you notice that? **

**J: Thank you for noticing that, I'll fix it right away.**

**And yes. ****Y****es, I noticed that. I am not oblivious. I **_**am**_** an environmentalist, you k****n****ow. If I didn't notice that, what kind of a Fältbiolog would I be?**

**And Fältbiologerna (Meaning the Field-biologists) is an environmentalist movement for youths, in which I have been a member of for quite a few years.**

**From Seraph: **

**You're not a terrible person ): you've been busy(understatement?) and like you said, School comes first ^^ *hug*. It doesn't really matter if Vivi's POV was short btw because we have her perspective on this as well and that's better than none at all. It's really nice to see Laboon smiling after Embla's told him about Brook, that really goes a long way ^^. Btw, I think you've forgotten to tell us about Gronan owo.  
SBS: What was Mr 9 doing during the storm owO **

**J: Thank you. Nice to see you understand me ^^ (On a side note; it seems my grades was even higher than I hoped owo' Win~)**

**What he was doing? Well, what was the nine pair doing during most of the storm? Lazing about and being cocky. Until Nami started to boss them around. **

**And did I forget to tell you about Gröna Lund? Man, am I ignorant… Gröna Lund is the second largest amusement park in Sweden, and is also the oldest. It is also just about the only amusement park in Stockholm, but it's really famous. In Sweden, at least. **

* * *

**And that's it for this time. I knew it was short, but hopefully, the next chapter will be out much faster than this one. And the SBS is getting way too long. Maybe I should just create a page at my clan site for the SBS, and put up a link to it on my profile page. **

**So, until next time! H****ave fun, or else!**


	25. Holes out of nowhere

**I had completely forgot about the fact that we were going to spend the weekend out at the countryside, where I didn't have my precious computer or unlimited access to the internet and thus, I couldn't get started on typing this frikkin' chapter into word. Yes, I tend to write it all in a small notebook (small by my standards. It's really 11,5x15x2 cm big. Because of it, one of my top priorities among the attributes I want my pants to have is large-ass pockets) that I carry around pretty much everywhere I go. It's served me well, even if it has broken a few times (Like 10) and I've been having to find a decent glue twice a month to glue the effin' cover back. I've been carrying it around for about half a year(!) now and it's lasted all the way since chapter five, which was about when I found the little bastard deep down in a drawer. But because of its 0,5 cm rows (or squares, since there's vertical lines too) it's lasted for quite long. Like, really long. And my handwriting has shrunk like hell. And no one except for me (apparently) can read what the hell I'm writing. I'm thinking of actually scanning a page (which I will do anyway, because I wasted precious writing space to make a neat drawing that I got satisfied with and will upload) and see if any of you can actually decode it.**

**On a side note: I've been watching **_**Zero Punctuation**_** all day (and yesterday) and it's really effin' contagious. I can feel myself thinking in hyper-speed in very British English. And I'm Swedish, for fuck's sake. And it did nothing to help my cynicism.**** But I did think it somewhat improved my writing, for some strange reason…**

**Enough rant, here goes chapter 24: "Holes out of nowhere". And I hope you liked Frey, 'cos he's back this chapter.**

**(… Why the hell did I keep that silver pen? MY BRAIN!)**

* * *

A few days had passed since we had left the shores of Whiskey Peak, and I was getting bored. Out-of-my-effin'-mind kind of bored. In fact, the most of the crew was getting restless, with the exception of the two ever-training resident swordsmen aboard and the ever-busy chef. Zoro had claimed that all of our gaming had been taking too much time when he should be training. A statement I knew was most probably false since he would otherwise have slept all of that time otherwise. I guess he was just a little sick of losing all the goddamn time. Maybe I'd let him win once. But nah, he'd see through it at once and just get pissed off about it. But now almost a whole week had passed without anything interesting happening. Oh well, there was that one time when I got attacked by a rather large seaking during one of my routine swimming rounds, but it wasn't all that interesting, since I'm not stupid enough to walk around unarmed in the Grand Line when I'm a weapons specialist and not a freaking martial artist. Even when I am in the water. At least we had meat for another few days, though.

Not having anything better to do, I decided to go bug Tashi. "Ne, Tashigi…"

She wiped her forehead with a conveniently placed towel and turned to me, seeming somewhat annoyed. "Embla, I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is still no. I'm _not_ going to play cards with you."

I sighed, but I wasn't planning on giving up anytime soon. Mostly because I was so bored I could bang my head into the wall. Besides, I hadn't played cards against her even once and I really, really wanted to. It was in fact a great way of getting to know a person, just watching someone's strategies in Talisman, to make an example.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!"

She just frowned. "I said No, and I'm not changing my mind."

I crossed my arms and tilted my head a bit to the side, giving a small smile in an attempt to be friendly persuasive. "Only one game. I'll go easy on you."

She just crossed her arms stubbornly. "A no is a no."

Gods damn you Nami for warning her! Right, let's change tactics. "Che, I didn't peg you as the type to back down from a challenge."

She gave me a look. "I know you're trying to tease me into accepting. Sorry, but I ain't stupid enough to fall for that."

I sighed in defeat. Her mind was set and she was going to keep on being idiotically stubborn on the subject. Gods damn it, it was such a stupid thing to be stubborn about. What the hell could hurt about a little game, seriously?

Since Zoro was sleeping, the lazy bastard, I wouldn't ask him. I wasn't dumb or desperate enough to wake him up in the middle of a nap, even if it was for a round of Munchkin. So I decided to ask Ruffy instead. While the rather complex rules of most of my games escaped him, I had found out that he was a natural at Fluxx**[1]**. The quick turns the game took constantly were no match for his fickle mind and he had nearly beaten me on quite numerous occasions.

So I turned away from the young marine swordswoman and walked towards the fore where he and Usopp were fishing, all the while mentally cussing out Nami. But perhaps Vivi wouldn't mind joining the fray.

* * *

"SCREE!"

The avian cry made me briefly look up from my cards for only enough time to register what kind of bird it was. Deciding it was of no great concern I directed my attention back to the game. In the end, Ruffy had woken Zoro up anyway and bugged him into joining us, and Usopp had tagged along as well out of lack of better things to do. Vivi, however, hadn't. And Cat had hid away in her 'secret' lab, saying something about a masterpiece of science, or something of the like. She had barely come out at all, with the exception to eat and sleep.

"Just what was that?" Nami exclaimed at the sight of the 'bird', sending my train of thought severely in reverse. Sanji, assuming it was merely a bird tried to reassure her by pointing out that fact, which was an action that my brain barely registered. Because it was busy subconsciously searching through my old archives of knowledge-not-frequently-used-anymore that I had accumulated during my brighter days of childhood. Having found the file, my mouth simply spoke what my brain found while the conscious part of my brain was focusing on the game.

"Archaeopteryx, also known as 'The Original Bird'. It is the first known creature to have evolved feathers. It roamed the skies during the late Jurassic period." Then my conscious mind registered that I had just spoken, and with some afterthought I decided to add, "Of course, that might be different here, but I suppose it's mostly accurate. It's also carnivorous, by the way."

When I observed their reactions, I decided to merely shrug. I had a game to win here, after all. It was my turn and I drew, as the current rules said, four cards, and snickered at my impending victory.

"Jurassic Period? But that's impossible!" Nami burst out.

Smirking even wider, I retorted, "Never say 'impossible' when it comes to the Grand Line."

"That's right," the local, meaning Vivi, filled in. "Due to the unpredictable currents and unforgiving weather of the Grand Line, most islands on the Grand Line has become isolated and have developed their own individual ecosystems and cultures."

"And this one has stayed in the era of Dinosaurs," I finished for her.

Nami and Usopp appeared absolutely terrified at the thought of gigantic lizards stalking the jungle island, while my fellow monsters seemed more enthusiastic at the subject; Ruffy in particular. Vivi seemed relieved at the distraction from her homeland's predicament while Tashi seemed quite thoughtful. I didn't yet know her well enough to be able to tell how she felt and thought about it.

So I just shrugged it off and played the two cards that would finish this game of Fluxx; 'Flying Cow' and 'Fetchez la Vache' **[2]**.

"Aargh! Dammit!" The exclamation came from, guess who, Ruffy. Apparently he had a really good hand at that time.

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO BE PLAYING CARDS!" Nami yelled angrily. I had a nasty headache for quite a while after that.

* * *

Ultimately, I was to look for and gather any edible fruit I could find, teamed up with Tashigi. Cat was nowhere to be found. Working on her ground-shattering project, no doubt.

I couldn't for my life understand why they had picked _me_ to look for edible fruits. I barely knew anything about plants, dammit! And what little I knew was about the Swedish, Earthen flora, not jungle plants in the OP universe! Hopefully, Tashi had some experience on this subject.

I sighed and shook my head to clear it and decided to strike up a conversation with Tashi instead. It wasn't as if we didn't have a Gods damn lot of time on our hands, after all.

"So," I said. "How long do you plan to stay with us?"

She stopped searching through the ground-level plants and turned around with a joking smile. "Oh? You want to get rid of me already?"

I crossed my arms, not amused. "You know very well that I don't, and if our captain was to decide then you would probably permanently join, but I know you won't. I just want to know for how long that I'll be able to count you as an ally."

"Well…" she stood up and smiled. "I haven't reached my answer yet and…" She clenched her fist and her teeth, addressing a more important matter. "I can't let Crocodile carry on like this!"

It was very understandable why she would feel a certain amount of responsibility regarding the Croc-case, but I also knew that she couldn't stay with us during that arc if she wanted to stay a marine, as I had no doubt Smoker and his men would be present in Arabasta anyway, probably frowning even more than usual.

"Well, are you going to help me or just stand there?"

Tashi's question utterly threw my train of thought off-track. "Say again?"

She frowned. "I said, are you going to help me collect fruit or not?"

I frowned right back. "I told you already; I'm an Alien! I'd like to, but this flora is entirely foreign to me. I don't know what's edible!"

She immediately rose up again and strode towards me with a very annoyed glare. "I told you; stop it with that stupid alien-thing. It's not even fu-AAAAAAAHH!"

I blinked. She had just suddenly disappeared. Downwards. Conclusion; she fell down a stupidly deep hole. Wait… Why would there be a hole like that in the jungle, unless it was some kind of animal den? Wait… Shit. Hoping I wouldn't encounter a blasted Digestion Pool at the bottom, I jumped down. I hadn't encountered one before, and I'd be grateful if it stayed that way.

Typically Tashi to fall down a hole out of nowhere.

The hole was deep. Unreasonably deep. The walls were also strangely smooth. I was falling for quite a few seconds before finally hitting the bottom. I then gazed up to estimate how much a buggeration it would be to climb up again. Not that much, I decided, thanks to my spiky-ninja-shoes. The tunnel had widened into some kind of really large cavern, which only light-source was the very hole we had just fallen (or jumped) down. A hole that happened to be twenty-or-so meters deep.

To put it simply, it was dark. Dark as helheim would be if you removed all of the snow. Snow tends to brighten things up a bit. Good thing I ate lots of carrots. **[3]**

When my eyes had adjusted somewhat, I spotted Tashigi. She was sitting on the ground, searching for her glasses. I saw a glint of reflected light a few feet away, which proved to be what she was looking for, so I picked them up and handed them to her, after which I helped her up.

"Thank you," she said and put them on, after which she gave the room a scan. "Just what is this place?"

I didn't answer, as I had no idea, and it was not like she expected an answer from me anyway. But I was certainly going to find out. So I walked to a random cavern wall, only to find out that it wasn't an animal den after all. Probably.

"Runes?"

"Really?" She hurried to my side. "What is this? This cavern is actually a ruin?"

"I can't believe people actually lived here…" And what was more, it was runes of a, to me, very much familiar kind. It looked a damn lot like old Scandinavian runes, although I couldn't be entirely sure, since it was too damn dark. I flexed my fingers. I had my gloves on; fully recharged. "Give me a minute."

"Huh?" Tashi turned around. "What are you going to- WHAA?" She tripped to the floor in surprise when I opened the dimension-portal.

"I'll be back in a moment!" I said casually as I leaved an utterly shocked Tashigi behind.

I walked out in the living room of my former home where Frey happened to be sitting, reading a book. He idly looked up at me before returning his attention to his copy of _'A Short History of Time'_ before saying, "Welcome to the Sanctuary."

I gave him a look. "Funny. In any case, I am in the need of a flashlight. And my camera."

He didn't even look up. "There's a flashlight in the cleaning cupboard, and you know where your camera is better than I do."

I just nodded and fetched said stuff before turning back to the portal to leave, when he stopped me. "Don't I get to know what you need them for?"

I turned around with a loving smirk. He just wanted something of an update. Knowing him, I wouldn't need to give any detail. "Tashi fell down a hole. I jumped down after her, but it proves the cavern was a ruin with some runic inscriptions on the wall. But it's dark as hell, and I can't read the runes like that."

He pondered this for a moment, mumbling something along the lines of, "Ruins at Little Garden. And Scandinavian runes of all things… Strange indeed." Then he seemed to reach a conclusion as he looked me straight in the eye. "Mind if I take a look?"

I blinked. I had honestly not expected that. But it was true that he was practically fluent in runes. While he was not exactly an archaeologist, he did have a deeply rooted interest in our proud ancestors.

Poor Tashigi would be in total shock. More than she already was in.

* * *

**Tashigi's PoV**

What? What the- What the- _What was this madness?_ First she opened that… that… _hole_ in the air and casually walks through it. I've seen many strange devil powers in my days as a marine, but I thought that the only two fruits that could do things like that were already occupied! Besides, I'd seen her swim in the sea on countless occasions this latest week!

And then she just walks out of there with some weird stranger in tow, speaking some strange language I'd never heard before! Who the hell was that, anyway? Then I remembered her words from Whiskey Peak.

"_I'll tell you one thing; I'm an alien!"_

True, I had asked Zoro and Nami, who appeared to be the most serious two on the crew, but they had only confirmed this crazy statement, apparently thinking it was no big deal. But I hadn't believed them for a second, thinking they were just taking part in her silly little joke, but right now…

"**YOU WERE BEING SERIOUS?**"

She blinked. When she next spoke, her voice sounded very much like a slab of granite being dropped on a marble floor.

**WHY, YES. OF COURSE I WAS.**

It was the most intimidating voice I had ever heard and it sent a ton of very uncomfortable chills down my spine. I got the feeling that it should have been coming from someone clad in a very long, black coat, wielding a scythe. And I didn't even believe in such delusions. It did not, however, have much effect on that other person, whoever he was. Instead he hit her over the head, now talking a language that I could actually understand.

"Don't use _the voice _without a reason to."

_The voice_? He must have meant that tone. What was this all about? And who was he?

Embla rubbed her head, apparently annoyed. "I didn't mean to. But she spoke in bold capital letters, and you know how accents are contagious."

Contagious? Huh? Capital letters? I most certainly didn't use a tone that was anything like that! Apparently, they didn't think it was any significant and just casually dropped the subject.

"Tashi, this is Frey, my older brother. He's a little bit strange, but he's damn reliable."

The stranger, apparently called Frey, gave me a casual wave before switching on some handheld lantern and started to study the wall. After a few seconds of trying to process all this information I grabbed Embla's outstretched hand and allowed her to help me up.

I wondered briefly how many times the Strawhats had heard that ominous voice of her.

And then a loud rumble echoed throughout the ruins.

* * *

**[1] No, this is not a freaking typo. It is spelled with two X. I'll correct this in the earlier chapters when I'm not too lazy to bother.**

**[2] I might have misspelled that, but whatever. No one cares anyway.**

**[3] If you didn't already know that, carrots contain a substance called carotene, which is good for your eyesight. Consuming a lot of carotene improves your night vision. Take it from me, I know this from experience. **

* * *

**Alright guys, I'm just going to get this straight right away or I'll get my inbox flooded with complaints about Tashigi freaking out when Embla accidentally used **_**the voice.**_** First of all, if you haven't figured that out yet, **_**the voice**_** is the common way of referring to the tone of voice, or as Embla puts it, accent, that comes naturally to one person and one person only: Death. It's his bloody trademark, not counting the robe, scythe, bones and heavy gothic handwriting. If you are a fan of the Discworld series, like me, then you should know that it is common knowledge that Death speaks in CAPITAL LETTERS. And is the most awesome character in the entire series, followed closely by Ridcully, Granny Weatherwax and Rob Anybody. **

**To get back to the point; unless you just died, hearing his voice isn't exactly comfortable. It has a certain impact on people, unless they completely and utterly lack fear of death, such as Ruffy and Zoro does. Embla and her brother have different reasons for not being affected; they've simply heard it so bloody much that the effect has completely worn off. **

**According to my thorough calculations and estimations, Tashi is **_**not such a person**_**. She is brave, yes, but not completely unafraid. Hell, not even Sanji is, and you all know it. And yes, I will most probably write from Sanji's PoV very soon, because I haven't given him nearly enough stage time, when I haven't completely bashed him. He is awesome and we all know he deserves more. Even Embla knows ****it;**** she just hates it when he goes all 'mellorine' over her.**

**Man, I'm miles from the point now. No wonder my Swedish teacher always nagged at me about being unable to stick to the topic.**

**To put it simply: There's a reason why it is such an effective intimidation method. I mean, not even Sanji's comfortable with it.**

**And from this chapter on, I'm moving the SBS section to here: [this is where I will put up the URL when I actually get down to fixing the bloody web page] I will by no means drop the SBS, but it's simply taking way too much space. Add my rants and it's almost half a bloody chapter!**

**So that's it from me for this week. Hopefully I'll feel motivated enough to cram in two more chapters before I leave for my training camp, which will only be the beginning of a five-week hiatus caused by travelling. See you guys next time!**


	26. Surprises upon surprises

**Here we go. Another chapter, and hopefully not the last before I leave for my training camp. I don't have that much to say for now so... Enjoy!**

* * *

"What was that?"

Frey didn't even turn away from the wall he was studying, which I supposed meant that he trusted me to take care of things if needed. Lazy bastard. What the hell that sound was? Well, it could have been the volcano, but I couldn't be too sure. Things sounded different in here. If it _was_ indeed the middle volcano, then that meant that we didn't have much time to be loitering about, but when I saw something gleam in the darkness, I figured that we had other, more pressing concerns to take care of.

Seems like something _was_ using this ruin as a den, after all. Bugger _that._

I unsheathed Sôzô-Ryoku and willed it to become a spear, as I had a feeling that I didn't want to get too close to this creature, whatever it was.

Tashi unsheathed Shigure, readying herself for any incoming attack. I simply rested my spear against my left shoulder, glaring at the darkness, daring it to attack.

But then, suddenly, there was no darkness, only blinding light. I only had enough time to catch a glance of a glistening, black limb before it struck me. I somehow managed to partially block the blow, but the force behind it sent me straight into a wall. It certainly wasn't comfortable. Because it hurt, and I was blinded. To make matters worse, it was pitch-black once again, except for the two miniscule light-sources present. Correction, three miniscule light-sources. My weapon glowed.

But I was still blinded, even though my brain was running at break-neck speed. According to the information my ears sent my brain, the creature, whatever it was, was now focusing its attacks on Tashi, which was pretty bad, since she was just as blinded as I were. But on the other hand, I guess it was better than it attacking Frey. While he was fast, almost as fast – if not faster – than me, he has very little skill in terms of fighting. Against some big insect or whatever, which apparently used some sort of flashbang grenade or similar, he wouldn't stand much of a chance alone.

Good thing he was so bloody lazy, but it wouldn't exactly hurt if he could give us a hand.

My bet was that the overgrown... something had developed something much like the lantern that of an anglerfish, but instead of using it to lure its prey in, it apparently used it to stun them.

I was aware of the fact that I had somehow developed something of a sixth sense after having traveled to this dimension, being able to vaguely sense people's presences and moods, but I was no freaking haki-user. I could not rely on that alone, it was much too vague to be reliable. I had to find some other way to fight this beast.

Finally I had regained most of my eyesight and didn't waste another second. Grabbing my spear once again I rushed to Tashi's side, right in time to block an incoming claw.

I could now see just what it was, thanks to Sôzô-Ryoku's light. It was a scorpion. A giant fucking scorpion. I almost cursed out loud. Damn it, I didn't want to fight a scorpion! They were cute!

Anyway. "Hey, Tashi. Have your eyesight returned yet?"

She was blinking furiously while holding off the other claw. She looked quite frustrated. "Only a bit. Just what it this thing?"

The beast hissed and used its tail to strike me, forcing e to quickly step aside, making me unable to keep the claw in check.

"It's a gigantic scorpion- DAMN!"

It used its light-attack again, but this time I was more ready for it, but I only barely managed to close my eyes on time. This led to me being blinded, but not as bad, so I managed to dodge the next strike by a hair's width. As I felt blood trickle down my cheek, I realized that it had been a bit too close for my taste.

But then I heard a faint, if annoyed voice at the back of my head. _"Use the bandana, you dolt!" _

I didn't have any time to think about it before I had to dodge another strike. I made an attempt at a counter-strike, even though my vision was blurry still.

I heard a satisfying screech as the scorpion retaliated slightly from the blow, which had apparently hit. This gave me just enough time to pull my bandana down over my eyes. It was made from a thin cloth, so I could see through it. This created a similar effect to a pair of shades. Brilliant.

I glanced to my right, where Tashi stood, finally seeming to have recovered her eyesight. That was when I saw the creature do something.

A small dot lit up behind its eyes, or at least what I supposed was its eyes. I guessed that this was an indication that it was about to use the flashbang again.

"Tashi! Close your eyes! It's gonna flash!"

The, my theory was confirmed as the ruins once again lit up, but thanks to our preparations, we had no trouble blocking its next blows.

We exchanged glances. She smirked. "How about we finish this?"

I smirked right back. "Sounds like a plan."

And so, in a graceful combo of spiraling slashes embracing the fatal piercing stab, we finished the scorpion off in a co-op move we didn't even bother naming. **(AN: And that's **_**not **_**just because I'm lazy.)**

And all this time where we had fought an immensely annoying giant scorpion, Frey had just been studying the runes on the wall, being utterly unhelpful. I just had to hit him over the head for that. Lightly.

"What was that for?"

I could feel a tic-mark pop up on my forehead. "We just fought a giant scorpion with flashbangs, and you just stand there, not lifting a finger to help us, and you wonder _what it was for?"_

He rubbed his head in pain. Seemed I had hit him a bit harder than I had thought, but apparently this didn't do a thing to improve his attitude. "Oh, but you two seemed to be handling it so well. I didn't think that you'd need my help."

I felt my patience snap like a worn guitar string, and Frey felt the metal end of my spear against his skull. He flew a couple of meters. Behind me, I could hear Tashigi comment, "Isn't it the older sibling who's supposed to protect the younger?"

After giving him a few seconds to recover, Tashi said, "Frey-san, did you uncover anything?"

He groaned, but stood up, lumps gone, but a few blood-streaks down his face. I might have hit him a _little_ too hard. Just a little.

"Yeah," he said, brushing the dust off of his clothing. "It's pretty vague, but apparently, these ruins does hold some quite precious pieces of history."

My eyes widened a bit. Surely, there couldn't be...

"In other words, I think that a certain archaeologist might very well have missed a spot."

Tashi seemed quite confused, but I didn't pay her any more attention than my brother did. I folded my arms. "Robin might have found this place before us for all I know, but are you telling me that there's a poneglyph in here?"

He rolled his shoulder, and the snap that ensued echoed a little louder than it should have in the cave. Seems like I really did hit him too hard. Not that either of us cared.

"It looks like that is indeed the case."

"Hey, wait wait wait wait. Pone-what now? Care to enlighten the human?"

Tashigi's question surprised me. Wasn't she a marine officer? One would think that they would at least have told her a bit about them at this point. At least regarding what they were. Apparently I had been incorrect. I was just about to open my mouth to enlighten her about this fact when Frey interrupted me.

"First off: for your information, we're humans as well. We just happen to come from a different dimension, and second; if you want to continue your career as a marine, something that is already in great risk, you're better off not knowing. Knowing even the tiniest little bit about them is treated as high treason, unless you are authorized to, which, apparently, you are not."

He had a point. Good thing I never opened my mouth.

* * *

"So, do either of you happen to carry a few meters of rope, or am I going to have to carry you up?"

It hadn't taken us all that long to find the glyph, since we had practically stumbled upon its hiding-spot in the first place. And apparently, the underground ruins and the monkfish-scorpion had been seen as enough protection for it. But one could think that they should have placed a booby-trap or two to spice things up a bit. The scorpion hadn't even been that much of a challenge when we had finally figured out a way to fight it.

Since neither of us could read the thing, we settled for taking a few pictures that I could show Robin later.

But let's get back to our current problem; getting back to the surface. I wouldn't have any trouble, but sadly, the others did not have my ninja shoes of awesomeness. And we all had different shoe-sizes.

"Incidentally," Frey said, "I happen to have a roll of rope with me."

"How did you know we were going to need that?" Tashi demanded to know. I didn't pay much attention, I just grabbed the rope and unsheathed my daggers, preparing to climb as the others continued their conversation.

"Oh, I always carry a few meters of rope. You never know when it'll come in handy."

Frey had decided to stay with us in this dimension for a bit, mostly to say hello to the others, Cat in particular, no doubt. Or possibly, Annoya was simply giving him a hard time. Poor sods. I could swear that she had a crush on him. Or something. She was kinda odd, so it was hard to tell, but still, it was an entertaining thought.

I walked up beneath the hole, gazing up. Man, was it bright, in comparison. I crouched down for additional momentum and lept upwards as high as I possibly could, only just reaching the roof. It was enough. Quickly, I stabbed my daggers deep into the rock, leaving me hanging there. I swung my body back and forth to reach the roof with my feet. Having latched my feet onto the roof, I pulled out my daggers and begun walking up the vertical hole. Gods did these shoes rock!

About halfway up, a loud rumble echoed throughout not only the cave, but though the whole island. The middle volcano had erupted. Which meant that I had to hurry if I was to meddle.

Finally reaching the surface, I tied the rope to a nearby palm tree and threw the rest of the rope down so that the others could climb up. But while they so did, I ran up the tallest tree in the vicinity.

The two giants filled my view, but something was wrong. Dorry was clearly not keeping up.

Which meant that this was their second duel, and it was too late for me to meddle. It also meant that the rumble from before had been the volcano as well, and not the scorpion.

Lucky. If it hadn't, we wouldn't have noticed it until it struck. And also, not so lucky. I had been planning on preventing Dorry from drinking that beer. Well, shoot. I hadn't though that things would go so fast. Well, if I wanted to meddle at all, then it was best that we get going. I jumped down, where Tashi and Brother were helping one another up.

A big crash roared throughout the forest right then.

"What was that?" Tashigi gasped.

Frey, calmly untying the rope, said, "Ah, it's just the two resident giants fighting their regular duel."

Her expression had turned blank halfway through the sentence. "G-g-g-giants?"

I didn't pay her spooked stutter any mind. "It's their second fight today. We should get going."

Frey raised an eyebrow. "This soon? Well, let's not loiter any further, then. Lead the way, sister."

"_Giants?_"

* * *

Just my luck that we'd end up in wax-cuffs before we could get anywhere.

* * *

**Wow, and not a single PoV change. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out this Friday, or you'll have to wait. A lot. But as I said, I'll take my notebook(s) with me, so I'll write. Like, a lot. Hopefully I'll also write a few chapters on SBSM and Fireborne too. Those two stories have gone on way too long without any updates.**

**And speaking of Fireborne, I though I should tell you. This is probably what one would call an IMPORTANT NOTICE! Fireborne will be slightly rewritten and removed from FanFiction and be re-uploaded at FictionPress as an original story, as I've come to the conclusion that placing the story in the One Piece world is more of a hindrance than it is helping.**

**Sorry that I haven't fixed the SBS page yet, but hopefully I'll take the time to do that before I leave. I have a lot of things on my schedule, though, and it isn't really that high on my list of priorities. But enough of that.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter of _A Viking and her Cat! _And tune in Friday evening for a possible new chapter. If not, then you'll just have to wait five weeks. Sorry. **

**Until then, have fun, or else! (man, I love that saying!)**


	27. A Curious Coincidence, Or Perhaps Not?

**Heya guys! I'm finally BACK! Missed me much? What? You didn't? You make Jhonie sad. Anyway, here's the first**** of**** the two**** chapters that I wrote during my long time away from the ****internet. ****Yeah, sorry about that, but I've been kinda busy. Busy having the time of my life****.**** That, and working on my two original stories **_**The Fireborne **_**and **_**The Legend of Luca.**_** You can check them out**** on FictionPress or deviantART if you are in the mo****od.**** That is, as soon as I've gotten down to writing them in word… It might take me a day or two.**** Now, enough rambling and on with the chapter.**

* * *

"Devil's luck, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, shut up Frey."

"Why are _you_ here, anyway?"

"Th-there really were giants…"

Ignoring my companions' dialogue I sat down, frowning. We were stuck. In a cake. Of wax. Gods, it made me hungry. For cake. Real cake. Oh, the cruelty. Hell, I could even hear my tummy rumbling. Loudly.

"Well, now I know how birthday candles feel."

Zoro's comment made me look up with a chuckle. "Oh, if this only was a birthday cake. I'm getting kinda hungry…"

Nami gave me a look. "You're starting to sound like Ruffy."

"What is _wrong_ with this wax?" Tashi burst out. "No matter how hard I try, I can't cut it!"

"It's no use," Zoro replied, apparently bored. "I tried before, It's hard as steel."

"Hard_er_, even," I added, half-mumbling, bored. And hungry. Very, very hungry.

"Something's dripping down," Vivi pointed out. And indeed, the wax-fog had started to rain down from the candle-pumpkin overhead. It would only be a matter of time until we would start to harden.

With an afterthought, I removed the bandana from my forehead and tied it over my mouth and nose to prevent the wax from entering my lungs, after which I suggested the others to do the same. Since Zoro was the only other person who had a bandana, the others tore a good piece of cloth from their shirts instead. Except for Frey, because he had a muffler. Thoughtful as always, that he was. Mr. 3, however, wasn't all that happy about our little usage of brain.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Zoro snorted in response. "Not letting you kill us from the inside. What did you expect?"

"There's no way I'm going to die for your stupid art!" Nami agreed, not too happy that she had been forced to rip off a large part of her t-shirt. Well, if we somehow got loose from this thing without having to be burned alive, then she'd still get bitten. It wasn't something I exactly wanted to happen to her, but it was a necessity if we wanted Chopper on the team.

Mr. 3 was, to put it lightly, not pleased, but he acted like nothing happened. In fact, he acted like it was a good thing. "Hah. It doesn't matter what you do, you will still end up in my collection of stearin statues! In fact, those futile efforts to keep the pain away just a bit longer will just make you all the more unique!"

I could feel sour liquids in my stomach stirring in disgust. If I didn't knew that he would be helpful later on, I would have been very much compelled to just whip out my throwing knives and plant one neatly into his forehead, although that wasn't the only reason of why I couldn't do exactly that right there and then.

In fact, there was very little I could do in this situation but feeling stupid for having got caught in the first place. A nice time it would have been to have brought my iPod. But had I been insightful to that degree? No. I had not. So I decided to just turn off my ears and focus of peeling off the stearin that was dripping down to slow down the solidifying process. There was nothing better that I could do anyway. True, I could listen to the rather touching dialogue and all, but I'd heard it so many times it barely contained anything anymore. Besides, I didn't even know the giants, or at least not in person. All because Tashigi the klutz had to be clumsy enough to fall down that blasted hole. Life surely smiled at me. Or perhaps sneered would be a better word of choice. But then, when had my life ever done anything but?

"You don't insult a warrior who risks his life in battle with things like mercy!"

Brogy's passionate roar completely snapped me out of my comfortable trance of nonchalance. 3 looked quite in between shock and quite the decent amount of fear. And even more so when Brogy started to break free from his wax restraints.

"And now that I know the reason, it's time for me to settle this! That much I owe my friend Dorry!"

An explosion followed, courtesy of Mr. 5. It was enough to knock the giant unconscious for a few seconds, which was enough for the wax-man to enforce his bonds with big wax-daggers. Although from a human perspective, they looked more like claymores worthy of Cloud Strife. In short, it did not look particularly comfortable.

And then he found it appropriate to speed up the pumpkin, which difficultified* my little mission of peeling off the stearin, as it rained down and hardened faster than I could peel it off. Well, at least it was slowing the process down, but I was starting to feel my limbs stiffening. And to help my frustration, the girls were starting to panic. Geez, why couldn't they have some faith? A total of five of our nakama were on the way, damn it. At least I supposed so. But at least four of them were, that I knew for sure.

That was when Zoro came with his most brilliant suggestion. That is, brilliant from his perspective. I had to say that I wasn't too fond of it. A strange gnawing settled in my stomach when he spoke it.

"Hey ossan. You can still move, huh?"

Brogy shifted his focus to Zoro, indicating that he had his attention.

"If we'd be to cut off our hands and feet, you could still be of use, right?" He got that trademark evil smirk of his. "I'll cut my feet off. You feel like crushing these bastards?"

I really wanted to tell him it was a really bad idea, and it would be better to wait just a few seconds, but as Brogy was getting fired up about the idea and even Vivi was starting to go along with the plan, I knew it would be no use. The only person he ever listens to is Ruffy, and he wasn't there. Then an idea slapped me in the face. Hard.

"Zoro, wait!"

He halted when his blade was not even half an inch from his ankles. "Hm?"

"I've got an idea."

And that very second, three very loud creatures burst out from the greenery with a great battle-roar and a bit too much velocity. "You bastards! I'm gonna kick your aaaaaaaaass!"

They landed on the other side of the clearing. Frey though that a comment was appropriate. "Ah, reinforcements."

"About damn time," Zoro added, rather grumpy, just like always. Well, at least he hadn't freaking cut through half his legs, so that was some success.

The reinforcements had recovered from the… flight across the whole clearing and walked up again like nothing happened. "Let's go! Usopp! Bird!"

Nami practically cried out in happiness, and even Tashigi looked immensely relieved at the arrival of the two pirates and the duck. Oh, I was never going to let her forget that. But apart from the girls, the rest of us took it as something almost inevitable. Although two of us really _did_ take it as something inevitable.

After some minor dialogue and Ruffy commented on Mr. 3's immensely… artistic hairstyle, Nami decided that it was time to stop fooling around like morons. "Ruffy, wait! Destroy this pillar first, will you? We're becoming stearin statues!"

Ruffy gave us a look of speculative concern. (Never thought I'd use the words 'speculative' and 'Ruffy' in the same sentence…) "What? You guys are in trouble? And what are _you_ doing here?" The last sentence was obviously aimed at Frey who just shrugged in response.

Zoro gave Ruffy a calm response. "No, don't worry. We're fine. It would be nice if you could wreck this pillar, though."

Ruffy started to say that yes, that he could do, but I stopped him. "No need, Captain, just focus on kicking' those guys' asses. We'll be fine."

He nodded and turned his attention back to the agents.

"Ah, that's right," Zoro said. "You said you had an idea, didn't you?"

I grinned. "Yup. Can't figure out why I didn't think of it earlier."

I unsheathed my favorite transforming beam-blade and willed it to become a snake-sword. Zoro raised an eyebrow, looking fairly skeptical, but I didn't pay him any mind and just twisted around, extending the sword and gave it a sideward swipe through the pillar. It cut like a hot knife through butter, which was, in fact, quite an accurate way of describing it. While Frey's palm met his face as he felt like an utter idiot for not thinking of this earlier, this situation was not as obvious for the others; the two swordsmen especially.

"How the hell?"

"How did you do that?"

But I didn't have any time to answer as, because of sloppy aiming, mainly caused by my feet being stuck in a few tons of wax, Cake-shaped wax, I might add, the top-pumpkin was falling in the wrong direction - on us. So I had to cleave it in two again to prevent us from being squished by an uncomfortably heavy cake. Made from wax.

Having retracted the fragments of my sword, I held it out towards Zoro. "Touch the blade. It might explain things."

With a raised eyebrow, he so did. After which he immediately pulled it back. "Hot!"

"Exactly. Blue-hot, to be precise," I evaluated with a smirk while I willed the blade to become a dagger instead.

Three palms met fists as they caught on. Zoro was kinda unable to reply with his now burned finger in his mouth, which was kinda strange, as he could speak perfectly when fighting.

I proceeded by cutting my feet loose while mumbling to myself, feeling like an utter moron. "I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. Stupid, stupid Embla, letting the story get to you."

"_Yes. Stupid. Very much an idiot."_

I flinched slightly at the voice. It was the same one I'd heard down at the cavern. And it was not a comforting one. Because I knew it, I knew it well.

"Hey, you ok?" It was Zoro, who had noticed my sudden paleness. As if I wasn't already pale enough.

"I'm fine," I said, maybe a bit sharply, but I really, really didn't want to speak about it. I just wanted to forget it. So I just tried to shut the voice up, locking it up deep inside my mind and just focused on cutting myself loose, after which I turned to Zoro, as he was next to me, and thus next in line to get cut loose.

Zoro was still a bit concerned, though, so he decided to direct my thoughts elsewhere. "What took those guys so long, anyway?" he said, speaking about our fighting nakama below.

"Well," I began, "Ruffy was kinda stuck beneath one of those big skulls over there." I pointed in the general direction of one. "It took Carue some time to dig him out."

This didn't agree well with the info that Vivi and Tashigi had gotten. "What? How did you-"

They were cut off, however, by Nami. "And Usopp?"

"Knocked unconscious," I explained. "Courtesy of Miss Valentine."

"Right," Zoro said, now free from the big lump of wax. "I'll go down and see if they need any help. Just focus on cutting the others loose, ok?"

I just nodded and turned to the next one in line, while Frey and Nami explained to the others how I could know of Ruffy's and Usopp's situation, even despite having been fighting a giant scorpion at the time.

* * *

**Sanji's PoV**

As I walked rather hurriedly through the jungle, I inspected the hourglass-looking object in my hand. An eternal pose, apparently. Just like the one Ruffy had refused to accept from the gorgeous Miss All Sunday. It really was a pity that such a beautiful lady had to be our enemy.

"We're almost there."

I briefly glanced at the source of the voice, which incidentally was my feline nakama who had decided that I was running too fast as she couldn't keep up with me in the jungle terrain and had demanded to ride on my shoulder instead. I couldn't deny her; she was a lady, after all. Her species did not change that fact.

She was right, though. We had heard quite shitty loud noises earlier, and we were getting closer to their origin. Though it had calmed down now, but it did little to calm my nerves. What if something had happened to my sweet mellorines? The distinct feeling that I had missed something was gnawing at me. Something big.

But then we arrived at a clearing, and to my great joy, there was my precious mellorines! I quickly felt common sense slip from my grasp.

"NAMI-SWAAN! VIVI-CHWAAN! TASHIGI-CHWAAN! EMBLA! And you other guys."

My most lovely Nami-swan turned around with that angelic, slightly annoyed look of hers. "Oh, hello Sanji-kun." Nami-swan is so beautiful even when she's annoyed ~ And I have to admit that I'm not sure of whether I said that out loud or not.

Now that I think about it, I'm quite sure that the guys were giving me pretty angry glares back then, but they were the furthest thing from my mind with all of the pretty ladies around. Until Cat jumped down from my shoulder and ran off towards… a very much familiar figure.

"Hey, when did you get here?"

He just smiled that unnerving, calm smile of his while Cat purred in his arms. "I think you have more interesting things to focus on," he said and pointed in the general south direction. I let my gaze follow his indication, and indeed did I have more interesting things to focus on.

"A SHITTY GIANT? Who the hell are you?"

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

After finally having been able to melt off all the stearin and having endured Sanji's doting, which was actually getting a lot less intense as of late, Frey had been wanting to talk to me in private. So we had walked aside from the rest a bit. I had a pretty decent guess what it was all about.

"Are you feeling quite all right, sis?"

I nodded, smiling weakly. "Yes, I'm fine. At least for now." There was no use hiding the truth to him; he knew me all too well.

He frowned, concerned. "It's getting stronger, isn't it?"

I bit my lip, clenching my fists. He was right on spot.

He hugged me tightly before I could say anything. "You know…" he begun. "I've been thinking quite a lot about this and, well…" he sighed, not sure how to put it. "Maybe locking it up isn't the answer."

I quickly pulled out of the embrace, giving him an upset glare. "Are you crazy? If I don't… You know what it has done! What it made me do…"

He sighed, shaking his head apologetically. "I know. I remember that very well." He sighed again. "That trial was what lost me my career, you know. Still, you should at least talk with someone about it. Bottling emotions up like this isn't wise."

I clenched my teeth and decided to change the subject instead. He had got his point across. "But that wasn't the only reason you wanted to talk with me, was it?"

He gave me a sad smile specked with worry, something he rarely showed, before his face turned serious. "That's right. Back in the ruins, I found something very interesting and… quite disturbing."

I raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Those runes on the walls, they were identical to the ones they used in Birka in the latter part of the Age of Vikings."

I frowned. If we were thinking the same thing, then- no. It couldn't be. "It has to be a coincidence, surely."

He frowned, closing his eyes in thought. "That was what I thought, too, but too many factors say otherwise."

I said no more as I wanted to hear more before drawing any hasty conclusions.

"The inscriptions spoke about the north," he went on, "the very Scandinavia that we know so well. It seems to be as you suspect, sister; you and Cat weren't the first to travel between universes."

This new lump of information took a few seconds to sink in. But then, a realization came and hit me over the head. "Wait a minute, the age of the Vikings. Didn't it end in the beginning of the twelfth century? That is, nine hundred years ago?" I smirked inwardly at the realization.

He gave me an approving smile. "You're catching on, sis."

I chuckled a bit. History just got interesting. Now I really couldn't wait until Robin joined. We would be having a lot to talk about.

* * *

***Yeah, that was a word I made up on the spot. And it was not because I don't know the real word. I did it for the heck of it. I often do. Making words up is fun, and actually (usually) grammatically correct in Sweden. Yes, I kid you not. And yes, I use words like difficultified in a normal everyday conversation. I guess that says a lot of me and my family, as they do too make up weird words at the spot. All. The. Freaking. Time.**

* * *

**Nooow we're getting somewhere, aren't we? And here now in a couple of minutes, you'll get the next chapter too, where I have another surprise prepared for you. :****3 **


	28. Aikijo lessons and other schtuff

**Heya! Here ****second chapter****. Believe it or**** not, but I wrote this whole chapter in just about two days****! I'm serious. That was just how inspired I was for this. Well, ****ready your brains, folks, 'cause there be major **_**fluff**_** ahoy this chapter. And arc****, eventually****. W****hat w****ith Chopper and all ;3**

* * *

Ever since my great steering skills had been discovered, I had been assigned helm-duty all the more often. And sure, it was great fun and all during a storm, but during a calm, sunny day? Not so much. Especially as Frey had returned home, Cat was working on her amazing project, the swordsmen were training as always and Usopp was tinkering with his weapons while Ruffy slept on the Merry's head. Sanji? He was washing the dishes after today's breakfast. While I wasn't entirely sure where Vivi and Carue were, I knew that Nami was working on her maps on the table behind me and was not to be disturbed.

Or at least, so I thought until I felt her hand on my shoulder. "Ne, Embla…"

Relieved at the lesser distraction, I met her with my usual friendly smirk. "You have something on your mind?"

She wore a serious expression, but luckily for me, it was not the one that promised great pain upon the first sign of disobedience. "As a matter of fact, yes. Also, your way of speaking is contagious."

I shrugged. "Tell me about contagious. Anyway, what is it you want to tell me?"

She sat down on a chair by the table, right beside the helm. "Remember that time before Arlong when I stole the ship? You know, when you hid in the crow's nest?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "How could I forget? That was when I finally figured out how to use this beauty," I said, pulling out Sôzô-Ryoku and twirled it around a bit to empathize.

She seemed rather bored by my display. "In any case, could you teach me now?"

I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "How to use Sôzô-Ryoku? What for?"

She frowned, annoyed. I could see the vein throbbing on her forehead. Luckily, I was spared the fist of fury, probably because she was more sympathetic with fellow girls. For some reason, I felt a sliver of irritation because of that.

"No, that's not it. Don't you remember? You told me you'd teach me your staff-techniques if I asked you to."

Now the coin fell down. "You're right! I did, didn't I?" I sighed lightly. "All right, but someone has to take the helm in my stead, and also-"

"Sanji-kun~!"

"Haai, at once, Nami-swan!"

Well, wasn't that swiftly organized? Still, I was not satisfied. "I have one condition, though. Tell me, are you feeling all right?"

She crossed her arms and gave me a puzzled look. "I'm feeling great, thank you very much."

I was not convinced. We had left the shores of Little Garden behind (and got swallowed by that gigantic goldfish) yesterday, so today was the day that she was scheduled to collapse from fever. And still, she was feeling fine?

"Are you absolutely sure of that? No hint of fever or general dizziness?"

"I'm perfectly healthy, thank you," she insisted as I put my hand on her forehead to be sure. And indeed, I didn't sense any hint of fever. This was strange. Very strange. Well, as I had already observed, this story was strong, immensely strong, so we'd probably recruit Chopper in some way or the other anyway. For now, though, I'd just follow through with my promise and teach Nami some tricks, so we walked out on deck where there was more space to move about.

"All right, let's get this started. In Aiki-jo* there are twenty aiki-jo suburi, that is, basic movements. To fight effectively with Aiki-jodo you have to know them all, how they work together and when to use them. For starters we'll take the tsuki…"

* * *

**Vivi's PoV**

A post-breakfast nap had been most relaxing after yesterday's excitement, but I felt it was well time to get up and moving now, as I figured that Nami-san was probably getting bored by now.

Instead, the sight that met me when I walked out of the girls' quarters was something quite the opposite. It was also a sight that I never thought that I'd ever see. Nami-san was practicing fighting-techniques, with Embla-san. Although it looked more like Embla-san was teaching Nami-san how to fight than anything else. They seemed pretty serious about it, but the scene looked so funny that I couldn't stop a giggle from escaping.

Bushido-san also seemed greatly amused by the scene, as he had seemingly taken a break from his extreme training program to observe the spectacle. And snicker at it, apparently.

You see, Embla-san happens to be a bit keen about details when it comes to techniques and, well, Nami-san isn't exactly famous for her great patience. It all summed up to a quite amusing scene, all in all.

Tashigi-san, however, remained solely focused on her training. It worried me; she didn't look well. All of that training couldn't possibly be good for her.

Then Nami-san froze one the spot. "The air pressure is diving. This is real bad." She quickly went commando, and I appreciate why they call it her 'navigator-mode'. "All hands on deck! Embla, back to the helm! Guys, bad news! A cyclone is coming!"

My, my. I smiled slowly. Looks like I woke up to be met with quite the chaos.

* * *

**Tashigi's PoV**

We managed to avoid the cyclone without much trouble. Nami sure was amazing. If only the marines had navigators of her caliber… It would help us greatly.

Now that it had calmed down, I decided to return to my katas. It was strange, I felt oddly powerless today. It couldn't be the abrupt temperature changes that were getting to me, surely? I mean, I was stronger than that, wasn't I? Surely? Strange, I was feeling oddly light-headed all of a sudden, and my sight was getting oddly blurry. But I still had my glasses on, right? Yup, they were right there.

Weird, the others sounded so faint now. Maybe… Just maybe it would be a good idea to lie down for a bit.

I could hear their voices call out my name in surprise and worry, but I could barely hear them anymore. All sounds were being swallowed up into blackness…

* * *

"_**Ensign Tashigi!"**_

"_Sir, yes sir!" I couldn't see a thing. Everything was as blurry as- no, blurrier than when I dropped my glasses. I couldn't see who called, but my body had reacted anyway on sheer instinct._

_The strict military voice once again echoed across the room. __**"You **__**have been spying on the Strawhat pirates for some time now, correct?"**_

_I swallowed. This whole situation made me very much unnerved, but I forced myself to answer. I didn't know what would happen if I didn't. _

"_That's right, sir!"_

"_**Now, tell us what you found out."**_

_I bit my lip. True enough, they might be pirates, but they were also some of the absolutely nicest and funniest people that I had ever met. The time I had spent with them had been just about the best time in my life, as long as one didn't count the occasional glares Roronoa gave me. But it wasn't as if I could blame him. I was an enemy, after all._

_Pirates or not, there was simply no way I could betray them._

"_**Well, Tashigi?"**_

_Swallowing hard, I gathered my courage. "I found that they are good people, sir."_

"_**They are Pirates! The root of all evil!"**_

_I clenched my teeth, and before I knew it, I found myself practically reciting the words Embla once had told me. "It's not that simple. The world isn't that black and white. Some pirates seek nothing but __freedom upon the seas, and the only reason that they are seen as criminals is because they refuse to _bow down to you!_"_

_But as soon as those words left my mouth, a big cage fell down, trapping me completely. The surroundings now cleared and I was standing in the middle of a court hall. A gigantic court hall, that was, and every person present was a giant, if not bigger. Or was it I that was no larger than a fingernail? I could not tell. Then, the judge's hammer went down._

"_**The subject has been tried and is confirmed guilty of treason and aid in piracy! She is hereby sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in Impel Down's fourth level!"**_

* * *

I woke up in cold sweat, quickly realizing that I felt weaker than ever. A dream. It had been nothing but a bad dream. But even despite that, I couldn't stop shaking. Because what really frightened me was that it was probably exactly what would happen when I returned. And I couldn't even sit up and hug my own legs for comfort. I smiled weakly. Life really was a party, wasn't it? And to add to the fun, I couldn't see a thing. Where were my glasses?

Then, suddenly, I felt something being removed from my forehead; a wet towel. It was soon replaced by a new, comfortably cold one. But it was dark, meaning it was in the middle of the night. They were taking care of me even this late into the night?

"Ah, you're awake?" It was Ruffy's distinct voice. He was whispering, not wanting to wake the others. It was quite unusual; Ruffy, doing his best to keep quiet. Had the circumstances been different, I would probably have laughed.

I couldn't exactly see it, but I was pretty sure he smiled. He usually did, after all. "Are you feeling better?"

I tried to voice an answer, but it was to no use. I could only groan and hope the he would take it as a negative. I did not feel better; I felt a hell of a lot worse. Not that I could remember how I felt while I was asleep, though.

"I guess that's a no. You should sleep some more, then."

This time, however, I succeeded in squeezing out an answer. "Can't… sleep…"

It sounded like he frowned and sat down on a chair, supposedly beside the bed. "You're having bad dreams?"

I grunted an affirmative.

He let out a single, quiet chuckle. "You know, when I had bad dreams, Ace used to tell me this: 'When you know it's a dream, you can do anything. So just beat the crap out of it.'" He chuckled at the memory, and I couldn't help but do too. "It worked every time."

I could imagine. And now I was really curious as of whom this 'Ace' was. Also, somehow, this short little conversation had completely blown all my uneasiness away. Sighing contently, I decided to go back to sleep. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

As I was drifting off to sleep, I could hear the captain mumble, "I'll get you to a doctor, Tashigi. That's a promise."

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

I had woken up a bit early, so I had decided to take over the night guard a bit before my shift. What I found was Zoro, asleep as usual. I poked his forehead.

"_What?_"

"Hey."

He grunted. "It's not your shift yet."

"Woke up early."

"Huh."

He seemingly went back to sleep while I leaned at the edge of the basket, gazing out at the sea. There were a few minutes of silence as neither of us had anything to say, until I heard a faint snoring.

I sighed. "Well, this was rather unexpected. I didn't think that Tashigi would get sick."

I didn't receive any other reply than a rather loud snore. I rolled my eyes and just went on talking to no one in particular. "I guess it makes sense, though. Since Nami didn't, someone else had to, or we'd never get to Drum Island."

"That was how it went in the manga?"

Not particularly surprised at the sudden reply, I nodded. "That's right. We're going to recruit our doctor there, see. He's going to save our asses more than once. We can't just pass by that."

We didn't say anything more for a couple of more minutes. I remembered what Frey had said, about talking to someone about _that_. But no, I quickly scratched the thought. Now was not the time. Now was certainly not the time. Instead, I decided to bring up something else.

"Oi."

"Hm?"

"How do you feel about Tashigi now?"

I could almost hear him frowning. "What the hell are you talking about, woman?"

I rolled my eyes. "Ba~ka. I don't mean 'feel' in _that_ way. I mean with, well, her face and all that."

He snorted. "Che. Well, it's not that easy, but I'm getting used to it."

But I could hear the unspoken sentence in there. 'It still stings, though.'

Deciding things were getting too serious, I turned around to face him with my usual quirky smirk. "You think it would help if I convinced her to wear a ponytail?"

He couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Hah! Yeah, that would work. There's no way Kuina would wear a ponytail. Ever!"

We both chuckled a bit at the sheer thought before the silence returned. It soon felt a bit awkward, so I decided to break it. "Hey, my guard shift has begun now, hasn't it?"

"Probably."

"Thought so." I pulled out my shamisen that I stored strapped beneath the floor of the nest. "You should go get some proper sleep now."

He didn't move. "Yeah, I'll do that."

Realizing he'd decided to simply sleep in the nest, I just shrugged picked up the instrument to practice on a rather interesting piece that Frey had brought me before he left.

The calm, silent melody rolled gently across the ship, softly soothing its inhabitants from their worries for the moment. That was, until I missed a tone. Or two.

Damn, this piece was no cake slice.

* * *

And then, before I knew it, it was snowing. And the only reason that the two resident fools weren't playing around like idiots, was that we had a deathly sick friend aboard.

Me? I was sitting on the railing on the rear of the ship, practicing this score piece. It had been my most used pastime these last two days, which meant that this was day three, which in turn meant that today was the day we would arrive at Drum. In any case, I had it almost right now. Just a little more…

"Ne, Embla-san-"

"Don't disturb me now, Vivi!"

"But Embla-san-"

A tone cracked. "Damn!" I sighed, holding my playing for now. "What is it, Vivi?"

She looked at me, concern in her eyes. "Embla-san, aren't you cold? It's minus ten degrees out.***"

I frowned skeptically. "That can't be. Ten degrees plus, sure, I'd buy that, but minus? Not probable."

She frowned, crossing her arms. "Embla-san, it's snowing."

I blinked. I blinked again. True. And I had already observed that myself. Snow meant that it was ±0 degrees or less, usually less. But there I was, sitting there in nothing but my usual baggy black pants, striped tank and black jeans-vest. Hell, I was even barefoot. And wasn't freezing in the least. Realizing why, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hah! Seems my resistance to cold was multiplied as well. I knew I could take a lot, but this? Bwahahaa!"

Vivi frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure I shouldn't get you a jacket?"

Chuckling still, I shook my head, jumping down. "Positive. This isn't nearly enough to make me freeze. All I need is my muffler. The only cold-sensitive parts of me happen to be my nose and ears."

Thus I went to go get it, like I said. Vivi just rolled her eyes with a puzzled smile, sighing. "Aliens…"

* * *

When I got back out, I was met by Zoro's rather puzzled voice. "Oi, guys. Can people… stand on the sea?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Mmh fhm mfmmf hmm-"

"Can't hear you!"

I pulled down the muffler a bit. "Only if they've either eaten the ice fruit, thus freezing the water they stand on, in which case it would be Aokiji, which it isn't, or it would be because he's standing on top of the mast of a giant, melon-shaped submarine."

Usopp, who was standing beside me at the fore along with Ruffy, frowned at me. "That's a bit too far-fetched, don't you think?"

"Why're you asking that, Zoro? Of course people can't stand on the sea!" Ruffy called to his first mate.

"Well," he called back, "if that's the case, then what do you call _that?"_

Our gazes simultaneously turned fore over. And indeed.

"I call that a man who's standing on the top of the mast of a giant, melon-shaped submarine," I argued, standing true to my opinion that the submarine, which was still submerged, I might add, was indeed very much melon-shaped.

"Oh, shut it."

Thus ensued a few seconds of staring at the odd phenomenon, until the jester, who was called Chess, I might add, decided to speak. "Chilly today, isn't it?"

I raised an eyebrow, before shrugging. "Not really."

Usopp did not agree. "Oh, shut up Embla! It's freezing as hell!"

I felt a tic-mark pop up on my forehead. "Hell's hot as hell. It's _Helheim_ that's cold. I though you was the one who was supposed to keep track on mythology."

Then, suddenly, the giant melon emerged from the depths, and I could not resist being a smart-ass.

"See? What did I tell you?"

Now, all three of them joined in. "Oh, just shut up."

* * *

***Aiki-jo; the Jodo that we use in aikido. ****Thus Aiki-jo**

*****Reminder: as always, I'm counting degrees in Celsius**

* * *

**Yeah. That's all I managed to write on A Viking on my whole vacation. Well, I did manage to write about half a chapter more, but I can't get the flow going. I suppose I should have been able to write more in five whole weeks, but I've been **_**busy!**_** Busy having the **_**time of my life!**_** Guys, if you ever happen to be in Sweden during week 32, I certainly recommend you to visit Visby and the **_**most**_** awesome medieval week. True, most stuff's in Swedish, but there be awesome food, awesome fire shows and awesome music that you can understand. And if you live in Sweden, then you have absolutely no excuse to not go there at least once. I'll be expecting you next year, got it? Trust me, the events are awesome and the people are amazing. **

**Hopefully I'll have managed to finish my awesome pants by then… and my vest…**

**Anyway, now I'll be off working on Luca and Fireborne. See y'all**** later this week, as**** I hopefully**** will**** have finished the next chapter by then.**** Until then, have fun! Or else!**


	29. Fudging Bunnies

**Heya guys! All right, I know it's a few days later than it should be, but I was finishing the prologue of **_**'The Legend of Luca'**_**. So all's fine, right? Right? Anyways, yes, this chapter**** got****a ****bit**** lot ****shorter than usual, but I wanted to end it at an appropriate place. So, here ye go, chapter 29. Enjoyeh!**

* * *

**Cat's PoV**

All of this shaking was really getting on my nerves. I almost broke a circuit. For the sixth bloody time. Enough was enough.

And what was it that met me when I walked out on deck? The Hippo bastard's freaking soldiers. Not to forget the Great Hippo himself, standing on the railing. Yeah, that's right; right beside the starboard wing, where I stored the quantum cores, crucial to upholding the dimensional distortion that my lab required.

And the fucker was going to- oh no, he weren't! Not on _my _watch!

"_Die!_ You enemy of science!"

Luckily, he never had time to take a bite off of my lab before he got what most probably was the heaviest head-butt I had ever dealt, right to his forehead, before he could so much as blink.

"And that should teach you to keep away from the starboard wing!"

* * *

"You seriously built your lab all over the ship?"

"Not all over it, only in the walls."

"That's what I meant."

"In that case then, yes."

I had to say that one could see that Whitehead really was in her right element here on drum, as we walked up the snowy hills towards Bighorn. Her pale features melted well with the snow and I bet she would make a most brilliant snow ninja, hadn't she fancied black clothing so. But seriously, that tolerance was just plain ridiculous. During all of my travels, she was one of the very few humans who had ever impressed me. And she never ceased to surprise. I mean, seriously, even captain was wearing more clothes than her. Even _I_ was freezing, with my thick fur. And she didn't even have goosebumps. Yes, she was still wearing her normal clothes, in fifteen degrees minus.

And she says I'm weird.

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

"You are _not_ leaving without me."

Sanji blinked. "But Embla-san-"

"No buts. I'm going instead of you, Sanji."

Ruffy raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "I still don't get why."

Sanji lit a cigarette, face serious. "Embla, look, you if anyone should understand why I can't just stay behind in a situation like this."

"True," I admitted. "I understand that quite well, but allow me to list the reasons why you should stay behind this one time. One: Lapahn. Carnivorous bunnies the size of polar bears happens to live in the mountain range that we are going to cross. They're a lot stronger than one might think, and for now we should avoid fighting at all costs. Two: the snow here is really deep and your fighting style relies on a good, solid footing to be effective. This puts you at a disadvantage if it would come to that."

He muttered something under his breath that I couldn't hear, but he didn't protest. He knew I was right.

"Third," I continued," we're going to climb a ten kilometer tall mountain. A frozen mountain. Barehanded. If not having a crazy tolerance against cold, one could sustain permanent injuries. I know how important your hands are, so don't risk them unnecessarily." I paused for a second, giving him a genuinely concerned look to help it sink in before continuing. "Fourth: Avalanches are annoyingly common in this area and-"

"Ok, fine! I get your point," Sanji abruptly cut me off, sighing in defeat. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, taking a deep, heavy drag. "I'm not going to get out of that avalanche unscathed, am I?"

I let out a single chuckle, knowing I had won, yet lost. I hadn't managed to avoid spoilers. But what the hey, I guess this once couldn't hurt. "Clever. You're right Sanji; you'll crack your spine, fall unconscious and be deadweight during the climb. Sorry about that."

"Oh." He fell silent, looking for words. "That's certainly…"

"Inconvenient?" Cat offered, suddenly having popped in from nowhere. Neither of us cared. She usually did.

"I guess. Fine, you win Embla," he admitted. "But remember than I'm only doing this because I trust you."

I have him a hearty smile and started to slowly walk in Ruffy's direction, but not turning around just yet. "Someone has to protect the princess, right?"

"Oi! How long are you gonna stand there? _Hurry up!"_

I exchanged a last glance with Sanji before I turned on my heel and hurried after our most impatient captain with a smirk playing on my lips. Victory.

Glancing back, I could make out heart-shaped puffs of smoke, but as a sort of thanks for complying, I decided against throwing a knife after him. Just this once.

"What was all that?" Ruffy wondered.

I gave him a calm smirk. "Oh, I just spared Sanji a nasty crack in his spine."

"Ah."

We ran for a while, not really saying much. We simply didn't find much to say, but I did notice Ruffy's uncharacteristically serious expression. It made me speculate what could have caused it. He rarely spoke about himself, so I doubted he would tell me if I asked. He probably wasn't even conscious about it. Still, I couldn't help but think about it.

That was, until the bunny appeared and started pouncing us, trying to munch or feet off.

"Ah," I said.

"What now?"

"Seems we entered Lapahn Territory." *hop* "Let's try not to piss them off."

*dodge* "Why?"

"Well…" *sidestep* "Mainly because fighting overgrown rabbits while carrying a deathly sick individual," *jump* "Seems like an immensely bad idea."

"I see." *dodge* "But seriously, what's this guy's problem?"

I shrugged while sidestepping yet another pounce. "Can't tell. Cat didn't add a program for animal speech."

"What? That's boring!" Ruffy exclaimed, sticking out his tongue, disappointed.

I just shrugged. "I guess. But then, I guess not even Cat can think- FORSOOTH!"

We both halted at my sudden outburst. Ruffy's gaze traveled downwards, landing on my right leg, where the little critter had finally succeeded in biting firmly into my right calf. Blood war starting to drip down and the force of the bite were only increasing. In short, it hurt like bloody hellfire.

"Ouch," Ruffy observed.

"_Not_ comfortable." Knowing the teeth would only sink in deeper if I struggled in the wrong way, or if I tried to pull it off or beat it away, I decided to go with a bit more of a gentle approach. So far I hadn't encountered a single animal who didn't like being scratched behind the ears, so I gave it a shot.

"What are you doing?" Ruffy wondered.

I kept scratching the little critter, doing my best to give it a friendly smile despite the most bothering pain and dripping blood. "Just trying to save my right calf from being chomped off without pissing off him or his herd."

"Oh."

Slowly, its jaws were loosening around my leg and he seemed to enjoy being cuddled. If he could, he would probably have purred quite audibly. But then, rabbits does not purr.

He was actually looking incredibly cute now that he wasn't trying to bite my leg off. "Hmm, maybe I should keep him…"

"Yosh! Good idea! He's cool!" Ruffy exclaimed before I had even registered that I had said that out loud.

"We'll see," I said, ignoring my throbbing calf and lifted up the little creature, who quickly hopped up onto my head, which he for some reason decided to start chewing at. Affectionately, mind."

"Doesn't that hurt?"

I shrugged. "Meh, Cat bites harder."

He frowned. "You're bleeding."

As if on cue, I felt a small trickle of blood slowly run down my forehead. I decided that I didn't give a damn. "No matter, we have more urgent concerns on our hands, am I right?"

"Ah! You're right!"

And so, we hurried onwards to the mountain.

* * *

**Cat's PoV**

"Meh. Never thought you'd actually agree to stay behind."

The heart-shaped puffs of smoke dissolved and a thoughtful expression soon occupied Chef's face. "Neither did I. But if I was only going to be deadweight during the climb, then I might just as well stay behind. Embla knows what she's doing."

A cold wind blew by, carrying chill that even penetrated my thick hide. A yawn escaped me. Sheesh, cold really made me sleepy.

"Hey, Cook. Can I sleep on your head?"

He gave me a puzzled look. "Come again?"

I rolled my eyes, explaining the obvious. "Your head looks like a mighty inviting pillow, and I'm sleepy."

He raised an eyebrow. "Should I take that as a compliment?"

I yawned again. Humans… "That's your choice. Now, can I sleep on your head or not?"

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

"Polar bears."

"Snickerdoodles."

"They're Snickerdoodles?"

"No, they're Lapahn."

And indeed. We were now facing the little bunny's enraged pack. Guh-reat. And to add to the fun, the little fella had for some reason decided that it was appropriate to somehow fall asleep, and thusly he was unable to sort out the apparent misunderstanding.

Felling reluctant to hurt them badly, as it would likely make the little one much upset with us, and probably both pissed off and disappointed as well, I settled for the staff form this time. I was quite confident that I wouldn't be able to defeat them, but hopefully I'd be able to manage to hold them off until kiddo awoke. On second thought, I think I'm gonna call him Jake for now.

"Ruffy, listen up."

"Hm?" he replied, already having attained his fighting stance.

"Don't fight them. Leave that to me."

He frowned, definitely not liking the sound of that. All the while the Lapahn were rapidly approaching. "Why not?"

I clenched my teeth, readying myself for the incoming attack. "Think for once. For every hit you deal or receive, a big part of the shock will be directly absorbed by Tashi. Being shaken up is the last thing she needs now."

Understanding swiftly dawned. "I see. So for now we run."

I nodded, repeating his words. "For now we run."

We shared a glance, smirking respectively grinning, before simultaneously bursting out the word "Forward!"

Because running the other way would have been most stupid.

I ran in front, acting plow. It wasn't exactly what I was used to, and I certainly preferred fighting one enemy at a time, but this would be a good practice session, I guessed.

The first overgrown bunny came in from the left. I raised my staff with both hands to block the blow over my head. They were strong- stronger than I'd first thought. But I could not allow that to stop me. Redirecting the force of the impact, I swung the back of the staff straight into the bunny's head, successfully knocking it out. Sensing another coming from behind, I jabbed it right between its eyes, not even bothering to turn around. The next one came straight up front in our running direction. I sped up further and spun the staff for the centrifugal boost, settling for knocking it out with a simple head strike. It had a sturdier head than I thought, though, so I had to make it a double strike. The world was speeding up again, and I could feel that my energy was already draining. Hadn't my stamina training wielded any result at all?

My focus dropped for just a split second.

I was handsomely rewarded with a clawed paw to the face, which sent me prettily flying straight into a tree. My left arm was the first part that made contact, followed by the rest of my body, practically piled on it. There was a sickening crack.

Fudge. Left was my dominant arm.

"Embla!"

Ruffy's startled shout rang out throughout an area of at least a 500 meter radius as I was launched through the air and he hurried to my side to see if I was alright, which I kinda weren't. I was by no means a doctor, but judging from the relentless stinging pain in my upper arm, I definitely was not. Bugger. Strange, really, since I had survived getting tossed through a stone wall and getting a huge chunk of concrete to my torso just a few weeks earlier at Arlong park without more than a broken rib or two.

Jake, who had somehow managed to stay on my head while I was fighting, had finally gotten thrown off when I was sent through the air. He was now standing in front of us protectively, growling in a somewhat disappointed way at his pack. It was most probably the one and only reason why we weren't being maimed right now.

I managed a smile at the brave little bunny before attempting to move my arm, little by little. Fingers- check. No problem there, except for some minor stinging. Elbow- "Gah!" I gasped out in pain. That hurt a fuckload.

"Are you alright?" Ruffy asked, gently placing a comforting hand on my left shoulder as a gesture of concern, but I immediately swatted it away. Even that light tough hurt like hell.

"Apparently I ain't," I groaned in response. "I'm quite sure it's broken."

* * *

**All right folks, I know what you're gonna say; "J, this was the shortest chapter you've released since chapter bloody eight, and it's late again too!" And yes, you are right. But I have my reasons. And I do believe I listed them earlier. **

**I also now officially hate Minecraft. Why? It's great fun and all, and therefore it's cutting into my writing time. It's actually the main reason why this chapter is almost a whole week late. But then, I guess I should warn you about this: As you know, school has started again, which means that, for me, it's the Gymnasium that's ahead. (No, it's not a gym where you go train your body, it's the Swedish equivalent to High School) And it's a game design profile. This means that I'm going to spend a lot more time in front of TV-games to study them (partially) and I'm also going to spend more time with my schoolwork than I did before. So the two-week intervals might just become standard as of now on. Really sorry about that, but there's really nothing I can do about it. It's my dream to become a Game Designer, after all ;)**

**So, until next time, whether it'll be next week or the one after that, have fun, or else!**


	30. Riding the Fudging Bunnies

**Hey guys, what's up? Well, a fucking pipe replacement, that's what's up. And we've moved out. Temporarily. And also, I'm down with a cold. I've barely left the bed today… Well, anyway, here I have finally finished chapter 30, so make sure to enjoy it! Chapter 31 might take some time, though. SBSM is my #1 priority at the moment.**

* * *

I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but at some point we had ended up riding the overgrown bunny-bears, but not before getting me some proper, straight and sturdy sticks to help keep my arm in a proper position. Since I didn't have access to any proper bandage, I had to use my precious scarf for that instead. Good thing it was so long that it still could cover most of my face. It had always been sensitive.

But thanks to the prevented avalanche, we were spared the unnecessary delay, and thus the confrontation with Wapol. At least that was some improvement. Alas, thanks to my broken arm, I wouldn't be able to test out my new pair of Nekode**[1]** that I had asked Usopp to make out of the dino-teeth and leather that we had got from the T-rex back at Little garden. I had placed the order with the climb in mind. Oh, well, Ruffy would surely put them to good use. I had my ninja-shoes, so I'd be fine anyway. Thus, I tossed the set to him. Caught unaware, they first hit him over the head, and one of the claws apparently pricked his forehead a bit since I could see a small sliver of blood trek down, but he hardly noticed. At least he didn't seem to. Instead he just caught them as they bounced off. He looked at them questioningly.

"What's this?"

"Nekode," I replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's Ninja equipment."

An almost visible question mark popped up above his head. "Ninja? Nekode?"

I gave him a look. "You seriously don't know about Ninja?"

"Nope. What's a Ninja?"

His obliviousness never fails to amaze me still. But then, Ninja might not exist in this world. Or he had just never heard of them. I sighed. Never mind.

"It doesn't really matter. In any case, you strap them onto your hands with the claws on the inside of your hand, and the feet-pieces are strapped on similarly. They're helpful when scaling walls."

He nodded, facial expression failing to hide the fact that he didn't really get it, but he still attempted to equip them. Since we weren't riding the same Lapahn I couldn't really see what he was doing, exactly. Until he held his hand up.

"Like this?"

Hadn't I known him as well as I did, I would have facepalmed. "No, you moron. You've strapped them on upside-down."

"Ah." He then shuffled around a bit more, attempting to correct this. "Like this, then?"

I felt a rather large drop of sweat appear on the back of my head. "I did say on the _inside_, did I not?"

"Ah. You did." There was a short pause before he grimaced. "Doesn't that hurt?"

I blinked for a second. Hurt? "What? No, of course not." Then, after a few seconds, it clicked. "Not like _that_, you idiot!"

Then, a gruff from the Lapahn indicated that we had, indeed, now reached the foot of the oversized chimneys, and so, the Lapahn stopped. Ruffy jumped down immediately.

"They can't take us any further."

I carefully climbed down, not wanting to disturb my damaged arm. "Well, I figured as much."

We waved the helpful bunnies goodbye and I gave Jake one last hug before saying farewell. It was kinda sad, even though we had met him only half an hour or so earlier. But then, he was so incredibly cute.

Turning back to the wall ahead of us, I quickly decided not to look up. While I wasn't exactly afraid of heights, I knew for experience that you easily lost track of time if you didn't measure it. As I had learnt long ago; time was not important, and its measuring was highly personal.

A faint shuffling made me look to the side. Ruffy was still struggling with the Nekode. No wonder he didn't use weapons to fight. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Here, this is how you equip them."

After finally, with my help, having gotten it right, he cast a brief glance at Tashigi before turning back to the wall, flexing his hands to prepare himself for the long climb. He was about to grab the wall and start climbing when he halted himself, giving me a serious, wondering glance littered with concern.

I rolled my eyes in response. "Yes, I'm sure."

It wasn't enough to convince him. "I can handle this. You should go back to the village and rest."

I gave him a look, before gesturing at my injured arm. "I need treatment as well, as fast as possible, and the only two doctors on the entire island are up there." Cue pointing upwards, after which my mouth twisted upwards in a confident smirk. "And it's not like I'll have any problems scaling this wall anyway."

The frown that appeared made me smile inwardly. When it came to the wellbeing of the people important to him, he really was like a different person.

"Just be careful, all right?"

I just flashed him a reassuring smile and begun climbing with the help of one of my knives. My shoes were probably enough, but it felt reassuring.

It turned out that I could scale the wall at a surprising pace. I threw a glance to the side. Ruffy had already managed to speed off ahead of me. Grinning to myself, I picked up the pace a bit, quickly catching up.

"Getting the hang of it?"

He flashed me his usual hearty grin, along with a chuckle. "Yeah. They sure are handy!"

I couldn't help but grin wider. Things were going well. We were already a good bit ahead of schedule, and with our current pace, we'd be a _lot_ ahead of it by the time we reached the top. Most brilliant.

But then, a loud explosion echoed through the mountain range, followed by a deep, loud rumble. I couldn't help but turn my head to see just what had happened.

"Hoo. That's a bii~g avalanche, that," Ruffy observed, apparently a bit ahead of me in the manner of observing things.

I frowned at the sight. Strange, that it was. It hadn't been caused by the Lapahn, most probably, as they didn't exactly have any reason to. And no loud sounds, like screams or anything of the like, had been heard, except for the explosion. Conclusion: The explosion was cannon fire. And the one who fired the cannon was no other than Wapol, all because he wanted to make some sort of 'grand entrance' or something along those lines. But what bugged me was that, if my memory didn't fail me, it only happened like that in the movie. And what was more was that a certain Mushul participated in it, and Ruffy had only been able to defeat him through the use of gear 2. Which he hadn't even invented yet.

"Bugger."

"What is?"

But then, it might only be the story messing about again, aiming to mess with my head. By the Gods, it was fond of doing that. Wait, did I cuss out loud just now? And he replied, right? ... What did he say? Ah. Gotta answer. Gotta make something up.

"We could've gotten caught in that."

He just smiled and went on climbing. "Well, we didn't. So it's fine."

I just smiled to myself, nodding slightly to indicate that I agreed. If he noticed anything he didn't speak it, at least. Well, it was his choice that he didn't want to hear anything about the future, so I wasn't exactly surprised.

* * *

**Zoro's PoV**

Well, this was highly unaccounted for. _Not _as planned.

Those were the two sentences that occupied my mind as I struggled to get up from beneath the snow masses. I'd just gone out to take an ice bath, and before I knew it, I was in the middle of a forest with great masses of snow cascading down upon me.

And it was fucking _cold_.

"Zoro!"

Only then noticing that there were people around, I instinctively turned towards the two voices, only to be greeted with one very familiar face. "Ah, Vivi." And… some….thing. Wait, didn't it look kinda familiar? Wait, I knew that nose!

"Oh. Usopp."

"What's with the hesitation?"

"But what are you doing here dressed like that, Bushido-san?"

"Well, uh…" I scratched my neck, trying to find some rational way if explaining my situation. How did you explain something like that anyway? Where was Embla when you needed her? Ah, forget it. "I was taking an ice bath, but there were fish in the river. I followed them for a bit and ended up on the wrong beach and couldn't find my way back. Then that damn avalanche came."

"How stupid can you be, Marimo?"

Oh, great. Here comes the Witch and the Dartboard. "Did you say something, Love-cook?"

"I said that you're stupid, you Hack-swordsman."

"I hope that those idiots didn't get caught in it," Nami commented, utterly ignoring our fight which was now since long routine.

But unlike usual, this single comment was enough to snap me out of the fight. 'Those idiots', she said, and while she usually called anyone of the crew 'idiot', except for perhaps Vivi, three persons were indeed missing. They couldn't- No, wait. Calm down Zoro, don't jump to conclusions before you get a proper picture of the situation.  
"What do you mean, Nami?"

"Ah, that's right. You don't know. Ruffy and-"

"Captain decided to climb up that big mountain over there while giving Glasses a piggyback ride along the way, as the only doctor on the island lives up there," Cat cut in, much to Nami's annoyance. "Oh, and Whitehead went with them."

For some reason I can't explain, my breath suddenly got caught in my throat when she added that. It didn't make any sense, especially now, in hindsight. Why was it Embla that summoned worry to my mind, and not that marine, who I should be worried about? Worrying about Ruffy didn't even cross my mind. He'd be fine. He could survive anything. But it _should_ have been Tashigi that I was worried about. And yet, it wasn't before she mentioned the weapons expert that worry hit me. The image that flashed past my mind's eye, showing all those snow masses cascading upon them was a bit too vivid for my taste, and it was anything but welcome. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on your point of view, Cat noticed my sudden anxiety.

"Relax." She turned her gaze towards the mountain. "They got away in time, although barely."

* * *

**Embla's PoV**

I had long since lost track of time. How long had we been climbing now? I couldn't possibly tell. Minutes? Hours? It felt like days. Fatigue was clawing at me furiously and even the cold was starting to get to me. All the while that eerie, nagging voice residing in the back of my head was cussing me out, constantly letting me know what an idiot it thought I were. I could've just let Sanji go and have stayed behind myself. Things would have worked out fine. I- No. I couldn't do that. Not to a friend. I hadn't had a proper human friend apart from my brother for ten years now. Now that I finally had gained some, there was no way I was going to just stand by and let one of them crack his spine, just because I was being lazy.

'_Oh? And may I ask you _why_ you lost that one friend of yours, all those years ago?"_

_You_ should know, you sick freak.

The voice fell silent for a moment, and there was the kind of silence that you get when someone clenches their teeth in withheld rage and… self-loathing? No, that couldn't be it. Gotta be the cold. Yeah, only the cold. Then, the voice cleared its throat, which was strange, since it didn't exactly have any. It was more of a symbolic gesture, I guess.

'_Still, you could've just turned back at the foot of the mountain.'_

No, you stupid, annoying voice haunting me. I had to get this arm to a doc as soon as possible.

'_Excuses.'_

Shut up. Just shut up.

I'm not sure why, but it did. Perhaps it was because I mentioned that incident… No, just stop thinking about it. Don't allow your thoughts to wander that way.

And then, before I knew it, we were no longer climbing. We were standing on top of the ridiculously tall plateau, looking out on a field of white. And in the middle of it all, a castle. Finally. Finally. Finally…

The relief made all of the built-up fatigue return and hit me hard. Harder than ever. Unconsciousness was swiftly taking over, but a small memory of something I couldn't summon enough clear-headedness to decipher was desperately urging me to move, if only a few meters.

I slung my uninjured arm around my captain's shoulder, looking for any support I could find. It was selfish of me- I knew that. He was just as tired as I was, if not more, but I needed any and all support I could get right now. My consciousness was slipping away, slowly but surely, but we had to move. I couldn't remember why, but we had to.

Then, I felt an arm wrap around my own shoulders. The need for support was mutual, as was now also the gift of it. Both of us could barely stand, but there was something that had been unsettled within me that now had calmed down, and a strange, warm feeling settled itself in my mind. Comradeship. It was such a beautiful thing, was it not? A beautiful thing I had finally found again. It had been much too long.

I can't remember much more about what happened then, and when I ask Ruffy about it, he can't remember much more either. The pictures are vague, and we were barely conscious. Ruffy, drained from the cold, and I, drained from the sheer climb. In a way, Tashi had been lucky, having been unconscious all of the time.

I do remember one thing, though. Right before darkness claimed my mind, I felt a warm, furry chest catching us before we could fall over. That, and a thought. A single sentence, simple as can be.

We made it.

* * *

**[1] Looks a little something like **_**this:**_** http: / i35 . photobucket . com/ albums/ d200/ HomeImprovementNinja2/ ninja/ ninjahandclaws9xd . jpg (Yes, remove all of those spaces :****3)No, the picture doesn't belong to me. And no, **_**real **_**Nekode doesn't look like wolverine-claws. Also, there's an equivalent for feet too. That's Nekode ****as well. All a part of the set.**

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, it got a bit shorter than I intended, but it was such a perfect place to end the chapter…**

**Guys,**** tell me**** this;**** am I a sadist? Because, for some reason, I really enjoy ****writing Embla's internal struggles. It's like I take some strange pleasure in making her suffer****…**

**Also, now, I am currently working on as many as three fanfics and two original stories, and am thus starting to question my own sanity. Again. And I have sprouting ideas for two more, which I will stubbornly refuse for quite some time. And now I have decided that I won't allow myself to work on or update any of my other stories before I've finished chapter two of SBSM. I mean, seriously, with the amount of reviews it has received on a single chapter, I should be utterly ashamed of myself for not having updated it sooner. Which I am, I might add. I am a horrible person… A Sadist, Insane and a Horrible Person… Well, at least that's what I'm feeling like at the moment.**

**While waiting for my next chapter, do check out When Daemons rise/The Legend of Luca, will ya? (Same story, different names) You'll find it on either DeviantART or FictionPress, whichever you prefer. I'm called Jhonie everywheeere~ Well, mostwhere, but I am on both of those sites. And yes, I have now removed Fireborne. The new version will be up on DeviantART… someday… And then, we have the SBS page… I haven't forgotten about it. I will fix it. When I have the time and energy.**

**Also, I was inspired to start writing a FF III fanfic, which is basically a retelling of the story, the J-way. I find myself laughing out loud as I write it, so you'll definitely find it enjoyable. Hopefully. One thing, though: since my schedule is so clogged up that I have decided to not upload it until it's finished. **

**So, until next time, look out for some SBSM chapters, aight? Aight. **


	31. Update!

This version of the fic is officially dead. It has been for some time, but I've just been too lazy to tell you. Sorry about that. I am, however, doing a complete overhaul/reboot thing of this story known as Twisting Threads, if you have any shreds of interest left for me or my stories. It's far from my main focus, mind, and I'm mostly working on my other stories, but it's still a thing that I am doing. This story is pretty much crap. My other stuff is better. A lot better. Like... a LOT better. Twisting Threads will be as well, by a long shot. Hopefully.

Yes people, I'm finally starting to get my ass into gear and get back to my writing. It's been a hard few years for me, but I feel like I've gotten my life under control again, for the most part. My writing cogs are turning again, so I will most likely start sending out new chapters and stories at a significantly faster rate than I have been doing these last two years. For pete's sake, it's embarassing how slow I've been... ._.


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